Interesting Article on Josh Norman Over At Football Outsider*

[hepcat]

Very good analysis.  Kind of reinforces what we all already knew.  The Panthers have elite players in the front 7 and Josh was helped by the pressure created up front.  Not to say he isn't a great player but what he was asking for wasn't worth what the tape showed.

[imminent rogaine]

23 minutes ago, SetfreexX said:

We really didn't blitz as much as you may remember...

23

24

CAR

161

681

23.6%

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/11/sig-stats-team-blitzing/

That's less than a quarter of our snaps, we are a heavy zone team that INDEED relies on the front four for pressure. That is why DB's are devalued slightly less here than on other rosters.

19

4

CAR

520

30

37

86

23.5

On top of that, we actually got WORSE this past season at blitzing. Not trying to call you out, just offering some stats with the feedback.

I'd say that's about as much as I remember. I think the last two years have been about the same and It feels like too much. I realized that we rely on pressure from the front four but that pressure has been severely lacking at times.  On top of that, we aren't great at blitzing. Last year didn't burn us too much because of improved secondary play.... The year before was horrendous.

I can't find a source for this stat over time but I would be curious to see what that percentage has been from year to year since our great line back in 2003.

I don't mind the mediocre secondary as long as we really have an elite front four. I'd love to just zone in on the line matchups on game day and watch the QB get pounded over and over.

[CRA]

Week 1 Antonio Brown will pwn him.  That is just what does to DBs.   He is going to start his Washington era in the doghouse. 

[greghardy'sAK-47]

quality analysis.

josh is no shutdown man corner.  he's a great talent, but he's not the guy you stick to one wideout and then design the rest of he secondary around.  there haven't been many of those, but the skins obviously were willing to pay josh like one.  if the skins get more of 2015-16 josh going forward, then the contract is worth it (do they implement a similar scheme as the panthers?).  i think that's unlikely, however.

[CPF4LIFE]

Yawn...Josh has done nothing but proved people wrong the last couple years. There were people on this very forum saying he wouldn't go in to last year playing as well as he ended the 2014 season. Things will be different in Washington but he is a confident guy and thinks he can handle any challenge. I will wait and see what happens...not doubting him.

[greghardy'sAK-47]

3 minutes ago, CPF4LIFE said:

Yawn...Josh has done nothing but proved people wrong the last couple years. There were people on this very forum saying he wouldn't go in to last year playing as well as he ended the 2014 season. Things will be different in Washington but he is a confident guy and thinks he can handle any challenge. I will wait and see what happens...not doubting him.

i don't doubt josh is a great player.  i doubt he's worth the contract he was given and from a panthers fan's perspective that makes me feel better about the situation.  the reality that he was not going to be here after next season anyway.  sucks to seem him go so suddenly, but there seems to be a lot of fishy stuff going on behind closed doors in regards to norman and his agent, etc.    

as with most any former panther, i wish him well moving forward. 

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

1 hour ago, gorillamilitia13 said:

lol at all these people talking bad on Norman now hes gone. lets be real Norman is an excellent talent and we lost maybe the best cb in the game.

this isn't some mindless hate article.  it's a very detailed breakdown and is highly complimentary of norman in several areas.

[MadHatter]

1 minute ago, The NFL Shield At Midfield said:

this isn't some mindless hate article.  it's a very detailed breakdown and is highly complimentary of norman in several areas.

Yep....it just correctly points out his many weaknesses.  Which is something that some on here just cannot accept nor admit.

[Growl]

The foundation of this article is flawed and it puts the whole house at risk.

 

The article seems to believe that because we talk about having a dominant front four, that we possessed one last year. It even goes so far as to mention "that we don't even blitz" which is outright false. We had that luxury back in 2013, but it wasn't true last year and we had to blitz more to help generate pass rush. Schematically a significant portion of the defense ran through Josh last year.

[Growl]

50 minutes ago, CRA said:

Week 1 Antonio Brown will pwn him.  That is just what does to DBs.   He is going to start his Washington era in the doghouse. 

Brown is the best receiver in football.

 

Until KB comes back I mean.

[t96]

I have a feeling Josh will be back here in two years, for much much less than the Skins are paying him.

[CRA]

32 minutes ago, Growl said:

Brown is the best receiver in football.

 

Until KB comes back I mean.

Brown is the best.

If Beckham can control himself and just play (he is the 2nd best).  Norman struggled on the handful of routes Beckham was only playing football.

That is a brutal start to his Washington era.  His first break will be Dez Bryant.

 

I mean, Washington can't give him that deal and then not put him in bad spots.  Carolina did there best to not put him in that bad of spots too often.

[Nick_81]

3 minutes ago, CRA said:

Brown is the best.

If Beckham can control himself and just play (he is the 2nd best).  Norman struggled on the handful of routes Beckham was only playing football.

That is a brutal start to his Washington era.  His first break will be Dez Bryant.

 

I mean, Washington can't give him that deal and then not put him in bad spots.  Carolina did there best to not put him in that bad of spots too often.

Washington plays more man than zone as well, correct?

[CRA]

38 minutes ago, Growl said:

The foundation of this article is flawed and it puts the whole house at risk.

 

The article seems to believe that because we talk about having a dominant front four, that we possessed one last year. It even goes so far as to mention "that we don't even blitz" which is outright false. We had that luxury back in 2013, but it wasn't true last year and we had to blitz more to help generate pass rush. Schematically a significant portion of the defense ran through Josh last year.

yeah, we were heavily dependent on blitzing or creating the illusion of a lot of A gap LB blitzes.  It was obvious our coaching staff knew a front 4 only scheme last season wouldn't work. 

Norman helped too.  Often opponents would ignore his WR and then they were forced to see if there #2 or #3 could get open.  We knew that...and it caused QBs to hold the ball.