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Fluff piece on Norman

Ricky Spanish

By Ricky Spanish,
in Carolina Panthers

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Peppers90 NC Community Regular

Peppers90 NC

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure who expected him as a rookie to come in and start and make a major impact right off the bat, if you did, that is your fault he didnt reach those expectations.  Now after last year, his preseason performance, gave us a shot at hope but for whatever reason, he didnt get much playing time.  His boom or bust must be too much of a liability for him to play the defense we needed to sustain with virtually no talent in the secondary.  For him to play the way he should be playing, he needs a good safety behind him so he can take the chances that his instincts tell him to take.  We didnt really have any cover safeties last year.

 

I know people want to point out the Buffalo game where DJ Moore told him to cover the corner route, but how do we know the call wasnt for man coverage and Moore's late coverage audible was more Moore's fault?  I mean, look who got a cut just a couple weeks after than and look who is still on the team.  

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Peppers90 NC Community Regular

Peppers90 NC

Posted
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You're kidding, right?

How about not playing another snap for the rest of the season?

The paragraph above that I directly mentioned his aggressiveness must be too much of a liability for that lack of coverage behind him. That is about time we signed Florence back and he knows the system and then Melvin White jumped in.    I know it's easier to read two lines than the 4 above it, but maybe do both.

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Peppers90 NC Community Regular

Peppers90 NC

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people seem to forget he was a 5th round draft pick.

from a very small school not playing against NFL talent but maybe a couple times.  not trying to use that as an excuse, but knowing that, my expectations weren't near as high like it seems they were for many others here.

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Peppers90 NC Community Regular

Peppers90 NC

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I wasnt blaming the safeties, I simply stated that because we didnt have good safeties, the coaches probably felt he cant play in our safe, conservative system because he is too aggressive.  This is my guess, I've never sat in a meeting or asked a coach the question, just trying to use what I have seen or read to piece it together.  You are right, if he can't play within our system, he will be out of a job.  He may be better suited on a team where he can be more aggressive and take risks, because I think he is a boom or bust type play maker.

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Peppers90 NC Community Regular

Peppers90 NC

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He had an assignment and he blew it. Josh is not PP21 or Sherman. He better start realizing that or he's going to be out of a job next season.

And unless you were in the huddle, knowing the play call, you have no fugging clue what his coverage was.  They lined up man and for all we knew, Moore recognized the play and tried to switch the coverage seconds before the snap.  Now you want to pretend you know more than you do, carry on.

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Marguide Newbie

Marguide

Posted
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Forget the Buffalo game. Forget the Chicago game. That kind of stuff can happen to any young player.

 

On the other hand, there was the game later in the season when Norman was in as a blocker on ST's during a kick return. So what does he do? He grabs his man by the shoulder pads and throws him to the ground, negating a decent kick return. That is just sheer stupidity and shows a total lack of discipline.

 

Norman's problems are all between his ears. I hold out very little hope he will ever really get it.

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