Cam Newton ranked No. 3 among all-time college football transfer quarterbacks

Is Newton the third best transfer quarterback in college football history?

Lance Dawe | Jun 29, 2023

Cam Newton ranked No. 3 among all-time college football transfer quarterbacks /

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Auburn Tigers

Cam Newton will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest college quarterback of all-time.

Newton's 2010 season that concluded with a national title will always be remembered as one of the most dominant in college football history. He single-handedly carried the Auburn Tigers through an undefeated season and went on to become one of the NFL's best for a decade.

According to 247Sports, he is the third best transfer quarterback in college football history.

Brad Crawford recently released a list of the top 16 all-time transfer portal quarterbacks. Newton is third behind Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma and Joe Burrow of LSU.

"Newton enrolled at Auburn in 2010 and led the Tigers to their first national championship since 1957," Crawford wrote. "Along the way, Newton completed passes at a 66.1% clip for 2,854 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Newton was a physical runner that accounted for 1,473 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. The Carolina Panthers saw enough of Newton to make him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Four years later, he was league MVP and playing in the Super Bowl."

It can be argued that Newton deserves to be either second or even atop the list given his dominance and surrounding talent on Auburn's 2010 squad. Few before him carried his team like Newton did, and it should be noted when discussing the value of all-time transfer quarterbacks.

Oklahoma has not been deprived of quarterback excellency for decades, and LSU is no slouch either.

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall also made the list at No. 13... oddly enough, behind Alabama QB Jake Coker, who threw 21 touchdown passes during the Tide's 2015 national title run.

It's hard to argue that Coker did anything that any other average quarterback couldn't have for Bama that season, especially given the talent he was working with (Derick Henry, Calvin Ridley, nation's No. 3 defense, etc).

"The year prior to Marshall earning QB1 status on the Plains, Auburn finished 3-9 — so the Tigers' landmark turnaround was met with tremendous praise. A converted defensive back, Marshall went from Georgia to JUCO to Auburn and was the player responsible for the "Prayer at Jordan-Hare" when the Tigers beat the Bulldogs on one of the most memorable plays in college football history. Marshall and Auburn reached the BCS National Championship against Florida State, but couldn't hold on to a late lead in that one."

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