RG3 can be the next Cam Newton

One of the side effects of being a trailblazer is that the achievement often opens the door to many other people finding a way to achieve the very same goal.

There are numerous examples of this in the sports world: Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mark for running a mile, Babe Ruth hitting over 50 home runs in a season, Dan Fouts passing for over 4,500 yards in a single season.

All of these were tremendous accomplishments when they happened because they were first-time occurrences, but when others replicated these feats shortly afterwards, it illustrated that these were reachable goals for others rather than earth-shattering, once-in-a-generation deeds.

This very well could end up being the case for Cam Newton's rookie passing yardage record (4,051). As impressive as that number is, it has to be noted that it occurred at the beginning of what will very likely be the Decade of the Pass.

That trend alone points toward the mark not holding up over time, but that time frame could be even shorter with the NFL arrival of 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III (aka RG3), a player whose physical skills and statistics strongly suggest that he could rival Newton's record.

To read the full story of why Robert Griffin III can be better in his rookie year than Cam Newton, plus our complete slate of NFL coverage, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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KC Joyner

NFL Insider

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• NFL and CFB analyst for ESPN Insider
• Known as "The Football Scientist"
• Uses proprietary metrics from game tape study