Where does DT Johnny Newton stand entering his second year?

Breaking down DT Johnny Newton's rookie season and where he stands entering his second year

Much was expected of Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton when the Commanders surprisingly drafted him with the 36th overall pick in last year's NFL Draft. He was a surprising pick because defensive tackle wasn’t a perceived need at the time, but the team felt he was just too good value to pass up. Unfortunately, Newton fell in the draft due to injuries, which kept him out of the majority of the offseason after being drafted. That put him behind the eight ball and he was playing catch up for a large part of the season.

Newton did see the field pretty early on though, only missing the opening game of the season. His numbers were pretty underwhelming and he managed just two sacks in his rookie year. That’s not a horrific return for an interior defensive lineman, but for one that was drafted with a high second round pick and was hyped up for his quickness and pass rush ability, it was a disappointing return.

But the stats don’t always tell the full story. So how did Newton actually perform in his rookie year and where does he stand going forward? Let’s take a closer look.

Run game

We’ll start with the positives in the run game. Throughout the season, we saw glimpses of the disruptive ability Newton has with his quickness in the run game. The Commanders under Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. want to be a very disruptive defense because they know the value of a blown up run. If you can get a tackle for loss on first and 10, the defense is suddenly ahead of the chains and can go into full attack mode on second and third down. Newton fits that style well thanks to his quickness.

Here’s a great example of that quickness being disruptive. On this play, the Ravens look to run a creative trap scheme, with the left guard pulling to the right side of the line to block Phidarian Mathis. With the left guard pulling, the center has to quickly block down to the left side to try and close off the gap vacated by the guard. However, Newton is the defender lined up over the left guard and as soon as he spots the guard pulling, Newton bursts up the field. Tyler Linderbaum is one of the better centers in the NFL, but he’s unable to cut off Newton, who penetrates quickly into the backfield. Newton gets into the backfield so quickly that the tight end who was sifting back across the line to kick out defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste on the edge is forced to try and stop Newton instead. That leaves Jean-Baptiste completely unblocked and he hustles down the line to make the tackle.

That quickness can also be very disruptive on run stunts.

This time we see Newton lined up in the A gap between the center and left guard. At the snap of the ball, Newton stunts across the face of the center into the opposite A gap. The Bears are looking to run inside, but Newton’s stunt causes a ton of disruption. The center tries to cut him off, but can’t do so alone, so the right guard is forced to try and help out. By getting the attention of the right guard, Newton helps out linebacker Bobby Wagner behind him. The guard was meant to climb and block Wagner, but he’s delayed in doing so because he has to try and help the center with Newton. That keeps Wagner free to read the back and roam to the ball. Newton’s stunt forces the runner to cut his run back and Wagner is there waiting for it, making the tackle immediately.

Newton was one of their most disruptive run defenders along the defensive line as a result of this style. He had seven run stuffs playing this way, more than the likes of Daron Payne and Dorance Armstrong. I think the Commanders would like to see Newton playing in that style more often going forward, but he was restricted somewhat last year because the run defense had so many issues and they had to cut down on how aggressive guys like Newton could be. Where Newton struggled in the run game was dealing with power and particularly double teams.