Hello all, this is my first FanPost, so I'm fairly anxious as it starts off argumentatively (I think this sets a great precedent for me...).

I'm glad we're having a lively discussion on what we should do with our draft pick--both in terms of drafting strategies or specific players to target.  I don't have anything to add to that particular discussion, but I would like to voice my opinion on one argument that has continuously rankled me.

"Cam Newton Knows How to Win Games"

B.S.

So he's won some college games. So what? Here's a list of all of the QBs since 1990 who knew how to win games in the same way that Cam Newton did (finishing with a BCS title or the AP's number one team):

Out of what I would think are 15 legitimately evaluable number one quarterbacks in the past 20 years, only 2 have made the playoffs. And Vince Young lost that game. All of these quarterbacks knew how to win games. Many of them went undefeated for over a season. If I didn't know better (I do, trust me), I would say that quarterbacks who win national championships in college are a DISadvantage. I'm not asinine to actually suggest that, but I think it reveals that "knowing how to win" is not a compelling argument.  There are system quarterbacks and there are "good" quarterbacks, and clearly winning a national championship is not an enormous recommendation. "Knowing how to win" is an at best necessary, but not sufficient quality in drafting a quarterback.

Say what you will about Cam Newton. Maybe he's got talent. Maybe he shows enough skill that the fact that he played in a spread offense is not enough of a disadvantage. Maybe athleticism does matter. Maybe character is not a concern. Those are all legitimate arguments. "He Knows How to Win" is not. 

I incidentally have my own concerns about measuring a quarterback by wins, but that's not entirely relevant here.

Further, I get that this post doesn't reveal a whole heck of a lot, because it functionally says, "Wow, quarterbacks who win in college don't always do well in the NFL," which we already knew... but I thought it was important to point out that this is probably true for Cam Newton, too.  If Cam somehow falls to the Vikings, maybe we should take him, but not because "He knows how to win games."

What highly drafted quarterback didn't?