Deep Rate: 20.98% | Passing NEP per Attempt: 0.51 | Success Rate: 38.32%
Cam Newton regressed in a big way after his 2015 MVP campaign, and his numbers suffered. It didn't stop him from going long, though.
Newton finished the year ranked 16th in Passing NEP per Attempt among the 33 qualified passers, putting him firmly in the middle of the pack. This wasn't the area where he suffered the most relative to 2015, though, as his 0.51 Passing NEP per attempt this year was only a small deviation from last year's 0.66. For the most part, this was still a strength for Newton.
The exception would be when he targeted Greg Olsen, and unfortunately for Newton, that was his favorite target on deep balls. Here are his numbers when targeting each of Olsen, Kelvin Benjamin, and Ted Ginn Jr., the three pass catchers to top 20 deep targets for the year.
| On Deep Passes | Targets | Passing NEP per Attempt | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Olsen | 34 | 0.19 | 38.24% |
| Kelvin Benjamin | 30 | 0.77 | 46.67% |
| Ted Ginn | 22 | 1.11 | 45.45% |
Ginn's mark was the eighth best among wide receivers with at least 20 deep targets this year. Olsen's was... not.
Looking at that number, you'd think it was influenced heavily by interceptions. That wasn't the case, though. Newton threw four interceptions on deep passes, and only one was while targeting Olsen, the same number of interceptions he threw while targeting Ginn. Olsen and Newton just didn't connect deep for whatever reason.
We should expect a bounceback from the Carolina Panthers' offense next year after offensive-line injuries derailed them in 2016. Newton's deep-ball abilities appear to be intact, and a shift away from targeting Olsen there may make him even better.