Cam Newton

Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who is expected to be a top-10 pick in next month's NFL draft, impressed a slew of scouts, personnel people and coaches (including one of those pesky, similar-looking Harbaughs ) at his pro day workout Thursday. His workout was so good, NFL.com's Gil Brandt wrote that "Gabbert couldn't have done better had he borrowed Drew Brees' right arm . " That's high praise from one of the best talent evaluators in NFL history. It now appears that Gabbert has pulled even with Auburn quarterback Cam Newton in what is expected to be a two-horse race to become the first quarterback off the board -- and perhaps the Panthers' first overall pick.

Exit plan a must Teddy Greenstein Chicago Tribune Mark Emmert needs to go. His rogue enforcement staff has heaped embarrassment on a group that already might have been less popular than Congress. And it's not as if the botched Miami case is the exception. How about Shabazz Muhammad? And Cam Newton? It's bad enough Emmert allowed schools to hire staffers to bombard recruits with unlimited phone calls and text messages. Did he not consider the ramifications on 15- and 16-year-olds who should be focused on homework and listening to their coaches?

I can't say I ever thought of Joe Flacco while watching Cam Newton terrorize SEC defenses this past fall. But based on Newton's pro day workout at Auburn this week, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock thinks a comparison can be made between the Ravens quarterback and the Heisman Trophy winner. No, seriously. " I might draw a parallel with Joe Flacco ," Mayock said. "A couple of years ago, Joe Flacco came out of a spread offense [at Delaware]. He’s a big guy and I think what people needed him to do was kind of hasten the process.

More eye contact, rollouts Omar Kelly Sun Sentinel Cam Newton's having a sophomore slump, and most of his struggles have to do with an eye discipline problem. The Panthers starting quarterback not only eyeballs his targets inside the red zone, but he's plagued with a case of shifty eyes whenever talking to the media. Newton's tendency to avoid eye contact makes him seem disingenuous. He's fueling his critics because of his post game press conferences, and until he learns how to play the political game his detractors will continue to add up. It would also benefit the Panthers if they allowed Newton to create more big plays by rolling him out of the pocket and using his legs to produce first downs.

Shuffle off to Buffalo Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times Cam Newton might want to double up on the Under Armour because he's heading to Buffalo. The Bills have the third pick, and they're one of the seven teams picking in the top 10 that is looking for a long-term answer at quarterback. With free agency up in the air while the owners and players grab for as much money as they can get, teams are going to have to look to the draft to fill needs they might have addressed by signing available veterans.

Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta, the Scottie Pippen to Ozzie Newsome's Michael Jordan when it comes to the Ravens and the NFL draft, appeared on "Norris & Davis" this morning to discuss this week's scouting combine and the upcoming NFL draft. DeCosta is excited about the current crop of draft prospects that will be at the league's annual meat market, which starts Thursday in Indianapolis. "I think it’s a good draft. I didn’t think it was going to be necessarily a great draft," DeCosta told Ed Norris and Steve Davis of 105.7 The Fan . "But with the influx of all the juniors -- we have 56 juniors, which was a record -- in the draft and that’s really made the top end of the draft very, very strong.

Nick Tilson was happy enough Tuesday to be at the annual meeting of Under Armour, his favorite sportswear company, but the 11-year-old was in for an even bigger treat. "Who is your favorite college player?" Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank asked Tilson, singling him out of the crowd. "It was Cam Newton," Tilson said, astutely remembering that Newton, Heisman Trophy winner and former quarterback at Auburn University, had recently been picked up by the Carolina Panthers NFL team and was no longer a college player.

Under Armour announced Wednesday that it signed an endorsement deal with Cam Newton, last year's Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback when the Auburn Tigers became the BCS National Championship team this year. Newton's deal will begin with a national advertising and in-store campaign this year, and he will wear the Baltimore company's latest football gear at this week's NFL Scouting Combine. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. "Cam Newton is an incredible talent and a proven champion whose skills are unique and exciting," Matt Mirchin, Under Armour's senior vice president of sports marketing, said in a statement.

You don't have to strain your eyes to see the similarities between quarterbacks Cam Newton, a sure-fire 2011 first-round pick out of Auburn, and Tim Tebow, who was selected 25th overall by the Denver Broncos a year ago. They are both Heisman Trophy winners and winners in general. They played together at Florida (Newton couldn't unseat Tebow, which led to his college football odyssey). Both are physically gifted and built like tight ends. They have faced questions about their ability to throw the football, which is kind of important for QBs. And they both seem to have that proverbial "it" factor, and that's always a good thing to have going for you. Sure, there are differences -- like Tebow's love for jorts and Newton getting paid to play in college -- but they are comparable young players with potential to excel in spread offenses in the NFL. You tell me: Which of these two young quarterbacks would you rather build your team around?

The Ravens announced Monday that they have added two offensive linemen to their practice squad. They are center Cecil Newton and offensive tackle Kenny Wiggins. Newton may be a familiar name to football fans. He is the older brother of Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton. Newton and Wiggins fill vacancies created when the team promoted linebacker Josh Bynes to the active roster on Wednesday and the New York Jets signed offensive tackle Austin Howard on Friday.

Former Cleveland Browns and soon-to-be-former Denver Broncos quarterback Brady Quinn is being scrutinized for honest comments he made about Broncos teammate Tim Tebow to GQ magazine during the 2011 season. Ravens linebacker and 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs was also quoted by Michael Silver in “An Oral History of Tebow Time” -- and it seems Suggs eventually became a believer by the season's end. Here's an oral history of Suggs on Tebow based on a few quotes Silver used in his article in GQ's March issue . Week 8, after the Detroit Lions beat the Broncos: “They say we were giving him a hard time because he's a Christian.

For Thursday's newspaper, I began a three-part series called “Tweaking the Ravens” and I started by tweaking the offense. A big chunk of the analysis piece ( you can find it here ) was about the importance of continuity and stability for Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who took a step forward in the team's recent postseason run. That's not to say Flacco is without flaws. He can improve in many areas, which says a lot about his potential. Based on some numbers crunched by Pro Football Focus, a site that got a lot of traction among NFL writers this past year, one area he and new quarterbacks Jim Caldwell can focus on is how Flacco fares when pressured.

The moment when Robert Griffin III stepped to the podium Saturday night to receive the Heisman Trophy, greeted by a contingent of past winners, the Baylor quarterback automatically became eligible for membership in another sort of club. Not that he wants to join it. No player does. It is the society of Heisman flops. Scroll down the long and prominent list — Pat Sullivan, Jason White, Eric Crouch, et al. — of men who stood on college football's highest pedestal only to crash and burn as pros.

The Ravens announced Monday that they have added two offensive linemen to their practice squad. They are center Cecil Newton and offensive tackle Kenny Wiggins. Newton may be a familiar name to football fans. He is the older brother of Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton. Newton and Wiggins fill vacancies created when the team promoted linebacker Josh Bynes to the active roster on Wednesday and the New York Jets signed offensive tackle Austin Howard on Friday.

Grant Enders always wanted to play for Towson. Coming out of Old Mill in Anne Arundel County, Enders was recruited by Gordy Combs and believes he would have started his college career with the Tigers had Combs not been fired after the 2008 season. The road Enders took eventually led him back to Towson, but not before Enders spent an "unhappy" year redshirting at Holy Cross and then resurrecting himself at Lackawanna Junior College in Scranton, Pa., last year. "I wouldn't change anything if I could," Enders said Thursday afternoon, sitting in one of the football offices at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Remember that new quarterback rating stat ESPN made up? How does it apply to Ravens QB Joe Flacco? Seven weeks into the 2011 season, the fourth-year quarterback ranks 21st in the league in Total Quarterback Rating . QBR is a confusing stat that measures the quality of quarterback play that ESPN invented because the NFL's traditional passer rating system was in itself a confusing stat measuring the quality of quarterback play. QBR is even more confusing than that last sentence.

Under Armour will supply Major League Baseball with footwear beginning this season, the Baltimore sports apparel company announced Monday. Under the deal, Under Armour becomes the official footwear supplier for the league. The company will also be able to use the league logo to market its products in stores and advertising campaigns. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Under Armour already has endorsement deals with several professional baseball players including World Series Champion and 2010 National League Rookie of the Year Buster Posey, Jonathon Papelbon, Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Wieters, Jose Reyes, and Nick Markakis.

No. 1 Auburn will have an All-American anchoring each side of the ball when the Tigers play for the national championship. Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley were voted to the Associated Press All-America team on Tuesday along with Oregon running back LaMichael James , who will face Auburn in the BCS title game Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz. Five teams — Auburn, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Oklahoma — had two players on the first team.

Mike Shanahan's switch from Rex Grossman to former Ravens backup John Beck as starting quarterback couldn't ignite the Washington Redskins, who suffered another series of critical injuries to their starters Sunday as they lost, 33-20, to the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. A week after Grossman got the hook during a loss to the struggling Philadelphia Eagles, Beck took over — making his first start since December 2007 — but he and his increasingly battered team were defeated, 33-20, by a one-win team for a second consecutive week.

Love him or loathe him, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was the biggest story on a pretty ugly Sunday of NFL football as he engineered a 15-point comeback in the closing minutes to overtake the Dolphins, 18-15. Tebow had completed just four of his 14 pass attempts for 40 yards as Denver trailed, 15-0, with just over five minutes remaining in the game. With every Tebow pass that bounced off the Miami grass, hundreds of Tweets were chirped out into the blogosphere about how he was pretty much the worst quarterback in NFL history.