Josh Norman

[rayzor]

few things i saw pop up about norman today...

Well, goal one - completed. Norman started opposite of Christ Gamble last Sunday in Tampa, and unless I missed it, he didn't look that bad on the field. Of course, he didn't set the world on fire and make everyone realize that the Panthers had drafted the next Darelle Revis, but at the same time he didn't appear to look like he didn't belong on the same field as the other players either. In short: it wasn't an All-Pro performance, but it wasn't a "why the heck did we draft this guy?" performance either.

Norman isn't completely satisfied with just being a starting CB in the NFL though. He has other goals, as we see below:

I think it's safe to say that we're all behind Norman and hope he can accomplish those goals. I also think that he has the tools necessary to be a successful starter in the NFL, and even if he falls short of his goal to become a Pro Bowl Cornerback, being a consistent starter on a winning team is an amazing feat in and of itself, especially for a 5th round pick from a tiny school in Coastal South Carolina.

One thing that must be mentioned here, and it is featured in Max Henson's profile of Norman over at Panthers.com: when he went down in training camp with a hamstring injury, Norman didn't sulk on the sidelines with a "woe is me" attitude. Instead, he buried himself in the playbook, taking advantage of the opportunity to learn even if he wasn't able to put it into practice on the field.

From Henson's feature:

Putting all of Norman's bravado aside, I think it's great that he understands the path to greatness in the NFL is a process that requires more than natural ability. He knows that it requires a lot of hard work - both on and off the field - and even though he walked into camp on the first day with an "I'm ready to conquer the world" attitude, I think it's his ability to grasp the reality of being a rookie player and having to earn everything you get in the League that will help him towards accomplishing all the goals he has set for himself.

http://www.derp.com/...oriented-player

Josh Norman, the Panthers’ rookie who is starting at cornerback, will undoubtedly be a Brees target Sunday and said he is looking forward to that challenge. He has been studying Brees closely on film, trying to understand what makes him so good.

“He’s a big pump faker,” Norman said of Brees. “He likes to show his shoulders one way and then come back to the other side. And for a DB, you cannot look into his eyes.”

Norman warmed to the topic, acting as if staring into Brees’ eyes was almost like staring into the eyes of a hypnotist.

“You can’t gaze into them,” he said. “Once you do that, he gets a touchdown for sure. He always knows where he wants to go – he just does the rest to toy with the DBs. The shoulders, the pump fake, the eyes – it’s all just to throw us out of the way.”

Read more here: http://scottfowlerob...l#storylink=cpy

interview on panthers.com

http://www.fanfeedr.com/nfl/carolina-panthers?id=6c953f76-51a8-5a0e-95ee-ace6e8d8aa7d

[davos]

I wish he kept the dreads. And Gamble.

I wish our whole team including Kuechly and Nortman had dreads

[Rags]

I like that. Good to see he's doing his homework.

Let's see some results on the field now Norman.

[rayzor]

I like that. Good to see he's doing his homework.

Let's see some results on the field now Norman.

if he does his job right you probably wouldn't notice.

i'm hoping that he gets targeted very little by brees. brees will probably test him out, though. i just hope that he regrets it early and is constantly forced to look elsewhere.

[Guest Bwood]

[Mr ocho nueve]

Norman was getting abused by V. Jax most of the 1st half, it was almost painful to watch. But im not too worried since he is a rookie. V Jax had 46 yards, yes, i understand. But everytime I watched the matchup Jax was open a good majority of the time. 2nd half he looked better as he settled in. PI was bull. that is all.

[rayzor]

Norman was getting abused by V. Jax most of the 1st half, it was almost painful to watch. But im not too worried since he is a rookie. V Jax had 46 yards, yes, i understand. But everytime I watched the matchup Jax was open a good majority of the time. 2nd half he looked better as he settled in. PI was bull. that is all.

vjax only caught 2 passes when norman was covering him and that was for 22 yards. jackson caught one when beason had him (for 4 yards) and another when nakumara was covering him (21 yards).

i wouldn't consider that getting abused. in fact norman wasn't targeted very much at all regardless of who he was covering and didn't do bad at all when he was targeted.

panther4life shows the break down here:

Norman def. got the start and was our official # 2.

Heres some pff stats for those interested.

Gamble 67 snaps

Norman 50 snaps

Munnerlyn 34 snaps

Norman allowed 3 catches on 3 targets for 28 yards- 1 vs Mike williams for 6 yards and 2 against v-jax for 22 yards.

Gamble allowed 1 catch on on 4 targets for 6 yards-Williams caught 1 of 2 for 6 yards, v-jax was 0-2 againt Gamble

Munnerlyn allowed 1 catch on 3 targets for 2 yards- Doug martin got the reception, parker and v-jax both went 0-1

The rest came against linebackers and safeties

Anderson was allowed 3 catches on 3 targets for 12 yards

Kuechly allowed 3 catches on 3 targets for 31 yards-Lorig was 2 for 2 for 20 yards and Martin was 1-1 for 11 yards

Beason allowed 1 catch on 1 target for for 4 yards V-Jax got the reception for 4 yards

Davis allowed 1 catch on 1 target for -1 yard-Lorig got the reception but Davis dropped him for a loss of 1 yard

Godfrey allowed 2 catches on 2 targets for 35 yards-Clark 1-1 for 33 yards and Blount 1-1 for 2 yards

Nakumara allowed 1 catch on 1 target for 21 yards-This single reception/target went to V-jax for 21 yards

Tampa's first pick Barron gave up 91 yards btw

65 to Lafell who caught 3 of 3 targets against him and Olsen caught 2 of 3 targets against him for 26 yards

Murphy was 0-1 for against him. All that combined gave Cam a 153.3 passer rating when targeting Barron

[Mr ocho nueve]

I understand your stats. But I'm saying that Norman was consistently getting beat by v.jax even when he wasn't targeted.

[CPF4LIFE]

I understand your stats. But I'm saying that Norman was consistently getting beat by v.jax even when he wasn't targeted.

What???

[Guest Bwood]

I understand your stats. But I'm saying that Norman was consistently getting beat by v.jax even when he wasn't targeted.

LOL yeah he sure was getting beat a lot. 4 catches in one game is a lot. 2 of those were against Norman.

Did Norman give up a TD or a game changing catch??

[Rubi]

our dline turned it up a notch in the second half. that could have something to do with good coverage as well.

It shouldn't take an entire half of getting our asses kicked for them to turn it up...

Play a solid game from start to finish. That's what the good teams do.

[Peppers90 NC]

It shouldn't take an entire half of getting our asses kicked for them to turn it up...

Play a solid game from start to finish. That's what the good teams do.

brilliant.