Strong Combine Could Move Cam Newton to Top of 2011 Draft

Could a strong combine showing help Cam Newton become the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft?

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL scouting combine begins here Thursday, and Cam Newton isn't sneaking into town quietly. The superstar quarterback who led Auburn to the national championship last month told Sports Illustrated's Peter King earlier this week, "I see myself not only as a football player but an entertainer and an icon."

So there you go, NFL teams. Where in the first round do you pick a self-proclaimed player/entertainer/icon with a fresh Heisman Trophy and national title on his resume? Two months remain to answer that question, but those answers will begin to take shape this week at Lucas Oil Stadium, where Newton and dozens of other NFL draft prospects will endure the league's grueling annual gauntlet of tests, interviews and nationally televised workouts.

The Carolina Panthers have the No. 1 overall pick and need a quarterback. And if Newton performs well here, don't be surprised if his name starts to come up when that spot is discussed.

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Oh yes. It could happen. Sure, right now Newton's rated behind Missouri's Blaine Gabbert among quarterbacks on most draft boards. And sure, the consensus appears to be that Carolina will pick between two defensive linemen: Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers or Auburn's Nick Fairley. But a year ago, everybody still thought the Rams were going to take a defensive lineman first overall in last year's draft -- and they ended up taking quarterback Sam Bradford. So if you think the Panthers are sitting there with the No. 1 pick and no quarterback and aren't hoping Newton or Gabbert knocks their socks off ... check out the recent history.

"It would shock me if he's not the first player picked," renowned draft guru Gil Brandt told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram earlier this week. "If I was drafting and I had Carolina's pick, I'd feel really good about who I was getting in terms of ability. I just hope he realizes how hard he needs to work."

Newton comes here with questions. He's likely to dominate physically in the workout portion of the combine. He's got the speed, the strength and the physical tools he needs to succeed in the NFL. But he's relatively new on the scene. He'd thrown just 12 Division I college passes prior to his breakout 2010 season, having left the University of Florida amid controversy in 2008 and spent 2009 playing at Blinn College in Texas. Even his one great Auburn season came complete with the controversial cloud of scandal around the finding that his father sought kickbacks from schools during Newton's recruitment process.

But all of that can be washed away if Newton spends the next week -- and really, the next two months -- dazzling teams like the Panthers, or the QB-free Buffalo Bills, who are picking third. He's said he wants to go No. 1 overall. He's not there right now. This week begins the process of trying to move himself there.

Newton has said he'll do all of the combine workouts here this week. Gabbert, like Bradford and Matt Ryan before him, has decided not to throw for scouts here and instead do so at his own private workout in the coming weeks. Washington's Jake Locker, who a year ago was thought of as a potential No. 1 pick, will go through a full combine workout in the hopes of wiping away the damage done by his disappointing senior season.

And it's not just the quarterbacks here, of course. Scouts and pro personnel directors will no doubt marvel at the workout performances of players like Bowers, Fairley and lightning-fast Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara, all the while poking and prodding to try and uncover weaknesses so they can make a fair appraisal.

The NFL labor situation hangs over this combine, too. Everyone in the league expects the new CBA to include some form of rookie wage scale that could restrict or even determine how much money the draft picks get. If that new deal is in place before the draft, and if it includes a rookie scale, it could help push a team like Carolina to draft a quarterback knowing they won't have to overpay or haggle to sign him. Of course, if no deal is in place by the draft, the evaluations that go on here this week will take on extra importance. With no idea when free agency will start or what the rules will be once it does, the draft could be teams' only method of improving their rosters this spring and early summer.

It all starts Thursday, and you can bet most eyes, if not all, will be on the Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn. If you're looking for him, try checking the entertainer/icon drills. That's where he's really hoping to dazzle 'em.