"We feel like this guy is going to be a player." –Dave Gettleman during his February 2016 post-season press conference on Kevin Norwood

The 2014 NFL draft was the deepest draft in the past couple decades at the wide receiver position. Ranging from the 1st round through the UDFAs, names including Odell Beckham Jr, Allen Robinson, Martavis Bryant, Sammy Watkins, Allen Hurns, Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, Jarvis Landry, John Brown, Jordan Matthews, Donte Moncrief, and Willie Snead have already made significant impacts in the NFL and look to have promising NFL futures.

The Panthers now have three receivers on their roster from the historic receiver draft of 2014

The Panthers also took advantage of the depth of talent in this wide receiver class, adding both Kelvin Benjamin in the first round and Philly Brown as an undrafted free agent. After a highly encouraging rookie season, Benjamin looked poised to breakout significantly during his sophomore season prior to a preseason ACL injury. Hopefully Benjamin can recover fully and develop into the premier weapon that he is capable of becoming. Defying the odds as a UDFA, Philly Brown has similarly showed significant promise and improvement throughout his first two years - as a vertical threat and space player, an indispensable component to the Carolina Panthers’ offensive scheme.

Similarly, during this same draft, another name Gettleman invested a future draft pick on in order to acquire was the former Alabama Crimson Tide receiver, Kevin Norwood. While he washed out with the Seattle Seahawks, failed to immediately contribute as a Carolina Panther once they acquired him (aside from dropping a pass that directly led to an interception), and is already 26-years old, I believe there’s reason for real hope with Norwood.

Based on the opportunities he’ll now receive in Carolina’s offense, based on my trust in Ricky Proehl, one of the best receiving coaches in the NFL, and based on watching his tape at Alabama, I believe there’s a chance that Kevin Norwood meets the promise he once exhibited as a 4th round selection in the deepest wide receiver draft in my lifetime. Although hindsight has seemingly proven otherwise to this point and many have written him off, I legitimately believe that Norwood was not only worthy of this high draft selection in this stacked wide receiver draft, but still has a chance to be a significant contributor on the NFL level for the Carolina Panthers this next season and beyond.

Biography and Statistics

Norwood was rated as the 22nd best receiver in the nation and a 4-star wide receiver prospect coming out of high school by Rivals. As a ninth grader and the youngest of four children, Norwood’s family was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In an article in USA Today, Norwood reflected on the hardship, "We had no lights, no water, no food. Every day, me and my friend would get on our bikes and go find food to help our family out, go find bottles of water because you couldn't drink the water – it was contaminated."

Norwood was a 9th grader in Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina occurred

"So many of those nights just struggling, getting eaten up by mosquitoes, sweating. We had the windows down, but it was still hot. We had no electricity, so we couldn't turn on the fan. It was really crazy. That was an experience that I know God wanted me to experience, just to make sure I stay humble and make sure I appreciate everything I have today."

Entering Alabama as a highly-touted recruit, Norwood failed to make an immediate impact. He redshirted his true-freshman season, strongly considered transferring from Alabama, and was even approached by Nick Saban at one point about potentially moving to defensive back. Norwood maintained his belief, trusted the development process, and used his mother as an inspiration during those trying times, "Knowing she could fight through getting laid off jobs and then just to find another one, just to be able to bounce back, I felt like I learned from that."

As a redshirt freshman, Norwood played in 13 games and recorded 3 catches for 56 yards and 1 touchdown. During his redshirt sophomore season, Norwood finished the season with 11 receptions for 190 yards with 91% of his receptions going for first downs. He broke out during Alabama’s victory in the BCS National Championship game, where he recorded 4 receptions for 78 yards. In the national championship games, Norwood combined for 7 catches and 144 yards.

As a redshirt junior, Norwood finally received more of an opportunity to contribute for the Crimson Tide, playing 13 games and finishing 2nd on the team with 29 receptions for 461 yards and 4 touchdowns. During the season, 82.8% of his receptions were completed for 1st downs and he recorded 11 explosive plays (15+ yard receptions). He again thrived in the BCS National Championship where he recorded 3 catches for 66 yards.

During his senior season, Norwood recorded 38 receptions for 568 yards and a career-high 7 touchdowns. Norwood finished his Alabama career with 81 receptions, 1275 yards, 12 touchdowns, 3 national championships, 2 degrees (including a Masters degree), and as an voted, all-time team captain.

Physical Profile

Norwood greatly exceeded relatively modest expectations at the 2014 NFL combine. A size receiver, Norwood measured at 6’2", 198 lbs, with 32⅛" arms and 10" hands. The latter two values rank in the 53rd and 84th percentiles, respectively while his height and weight rank in the 61st and 42nd percentiles, respectively. Norwood’s above average length and massive hand size is particularly notable as it falls in line with the prototype hand sizes that the Panthers may seem to value in prospects (Kelvin Benjamin’s hand size - 10¼" / 93rd percentile and Devin Funchess’ hand size - 9¾" / 75th percentile). In short, Kevin Norwood is a big receiver with plus length and huge hands.

Norwood surprised many with his testing numbers. You can see the summary on the mockdraftable table, but I’ll briefly talk about about some of the notable metrics. He ran a superb 4.48s 40 time (65th percentile) and a blistering 6.68s 3-cone drill (87th percentile). The 3-cone drill primarily tests for agility, including speed, quickness flexibility, COD, and body control. In terms of the 40-time translates to film, I believe that Norwood rarely had an opportunity to showcase this trait as I’ll talk about a bit further in the following section. What I can assert is that from what I could see, Norwood possesses more than baseline deep speed to make vertical plays. In terms of his 3-cone, I definitely see this translating to his film and I’ll talk a bit more about this. The SPARQ scores are a bit less forgiving to Norwood, ranking his athleticism in the 36th percentile of NFL receivers. As far as I’m concerned though, Norwood definitely surpasses the baseline athleticism to thrive in the NFL, especially when factoring his skillset.

Like Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess, what truly makes Kevin Norwood unique is that he is a size-receiver with uncommon ability to sink his hips and explode into and out of breaks. In fact, if I had to rank them, I’d strongly contend that Norwood possesses the best hip flexibility of the three (though he lacks the sheer size/length advantages of both Benjamin and Funchess). As Panther fans, it might be difficult to truly appreciate how uncommon of a trait this is since the Panthers have three large receivers all in this mold. In my experience though over the past few years, this is truly a rare quality to possess when watching the larger college football receivers.

Film Notes and Fit

Norwood played more as the inside receiver in the Crimson Tide’s pro-style scheme, though he often showed the versatility to play on the boundary. First, some brief exposition regarding Alabama’s offense (prior to Lane Kiffin) and specifically, Norwood’s responsibilities within the run-heavy offense.

Prior to Lane Kiffin’s expanding Alabama’s passing attack, Alabama operated one of the run-heaviest, ball-control, one-back pro-style offenses in college football. They often used 12 personnel (1 tailback and 2 tight ends) in order to primarily execute base run plays (where the extra tight ends could be used to control the edges and could be lined up in unbalanced formations to create stress points in the defense) but still give them the versatility to threaten defenses in a vertical passing game. Their downhill power-run game revolved around a diverse zone-blocking concepts (predicated on inside zone runs which expands to outside zones and counters later in games) with elements of man-blocking concepts. The heavy zone blocking run game operated primarily through T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacy, with a complementary, explosive, play-action vertical passing game revolving around the uber-talented Amari Cooper.

In addition to this, Alabama’s offense often kept its running backs involved in the passing game through screens and swing passes. On any given play, the Alabama quarterback was also given the freedom to audible to favorable looks (generally dictated by the coverage on Amari Cooper) and there would consistently be some type of downfield call in the route combinations (with Cooper often acting as the primary read). The passing game featured many zone-beating route combinations designed to stretch defenses horizontally and vertically. In other words, conceptually, the passing offense would try to overload particular areas of a field with more receivers than the defense had coverage players in the area (with shallow crosses and Y-sail routes off play action or four verticals, deep crossers, or post-corners to stretch the field vertically).

This 2013 BCS National Championship highlight package for A.J. McCarron illustrates the vertical passing concepts in Alabama's offense during Norwood's time there.

Now that I’ve tried to summarize the Alabama offense that Norwood was a part of, hopefully I’ve impressed the emphasis of just how much it relied on the offensive line’s ability to dominate defensive fronts (as it’s inside zone run concepts set the stage for every other facet of their offense), running backs, and Amari Cooper (as well as his predecessor, Julio Jones). Furthermore, Kevin Norwood played with a quarterback in A.J. McCarron who lacked the arm strength to drive balls to receivers in stride and who often resorted to lofting vertical throws, which made Norwood appear like a slower, possession receiver (and his athletic testing disproved). As a result, Norwood was stuck in a role on an offense that provided him limited opportunities and often disguised his NFL potential.

The first quality I enjoy about Norwood is how dedicated he is during scramble plays to make himself a target. He is highly consistent with working back towards the quarterback and possesses stellar footwork along the boundary. Further, he seems to possess highly advanced field awareness. He is consistent with his spacing on routes and understands route depth prior to making his breaks to convert first downs and putting the offense in favorable field situations. Outside of working back towards the quarterback on off-script plays, most of his routes put him in positions where he was facing the quarterback. In addition to the lack of arm strength that McCarron suffered from, Norwood was rarely in a situation where he could showcase his athleticism as a ball carrier. There were certain opportunities however where he was able to display his agility, physicality, and quickness to earn yards after the catch when the quarterback was able to find him in stride.

Although Gettleman noted that Odell Beckham Jr. was the only receiver in this draft class who’s route-running was beyond question, I feel like Norwood displayed an excellent foundation as a route runner. He showed an understanding of selling stems and using nods and changing stride frequency to get his defenders off-balance in addition to understanding body positioning on fade routes and executing precise breaks on timing routes. Coming from a pro-style offense, from what I could see, Norwood ran most of the routes in the route tree.

As I mentioned before, for a bigger receiver, Norwood possesses uncanny hip flexibility and is able to make hard breaks on routes, an essential trait to possess in order to become a quality route runner. This balance and COD is evident especially on shorter and intermediate routes. I especially believe that Norwood excels against reading and adjusting to zone coverages. He seems to possess an advanced feel against zone coverage where he always knew and applied how he needed to run routes off the leverage of the immediate defender. Against press coverage, Norwood exhibited a promising foundation of hand-placement and timing to beat jams and attack defenders with punches.

Another aspect that I really enjoy about Norwood’s game is his prowess as a run blocker. While there are certain situations where he’ll overextend, fails to sustain blocks long enough, or could deliver stronger punches, relatively speaking, Norwood is an effective run blocker who possesses enthusiasm, a strong physical skillset, and mental understanding of blocking angles. He does an excellent job with earning early positioning on his opponent and displays a strong understanding of hand placement and timing to consistently direct defenders away from a spot and away from the flow of the ball.

Another look:

How about this one?

Norwood gave absolute fits to future 1st-Team All-Pro Arizona Cardinals Safety, Tyrann Mathieu during their college matchup.

Here's another look

Ultimately, Kevin Norwood’s trump cards are his grit, toughness, and ability to make clutch, contested catches in traffic. Norwood displays terrific body control to consistently adjust to the football in tight M2M coverage. Additionally, in my opinion, he is one of the best receiving prospects in any of these past three draft classes at converting difficult sideline plays in tight coverage at clutch moments and 3rd down. Norwood is a consistent hands catcher with a wide catch radius who is a natural high pointer with terrific timing and concentration. He naturally plays with power above the rim, with a rebounder’s mentality so to speak, and consistently extends fully for the ball while boxing out defenders. Simultaneously, Norwood is able to consistently shield the ball with his large frame and convert catches through heavy contact. If given the opportunity, I suspect that Norwood can be a real asset on back-shoulder throws.

The truth is that I frankly don’t see many nitpicks with Norwood’s game simply by watching him. He wasn’t the focal point in the offense and thus did not produce statistics, which is a concern; however, I feel this is more attributable to the situation than the player. There are other minor issues with his game is one wanted to nitpick. As evidenced by his 40 time, Norwood is fast, but he doesn’t possess explosive acceleration, so he lacks a dynamic component to his game. Additionally, he could learn more consistent hand use against press technique, he could continue to improve as a ball carrier (although as I mentioned, he was rarely in a situation where he could display this trait), and he didn’t play a lot of special teams at Alabama, so that reduces his relative worth.

Conclusion

While most fans may harbor greater excitement about the physical potential of Stephen Hill or the unknown prospect of Keyarris Garrett, especially with a full year under his belt and learning to adjust to Cam Newton’s elite ability of making pre-snap adjustments at the LOS, it’s Kevin Norwood that stands out the most to me in this Carolina Panther receiver corps aside from the known elements in this offense (Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr, and Philly Brown). Kevin Norwood possesses a highly promising physical makeup with an even more exciting receiver skillset. He is an incredibly tough, clutch, savvy, and large receiver with uncanny hip ability to drop his hips and to explode in and out of breaks, and exceptional hands and ball skills.

It’s difficult to call the 2016 NFL season a make-or-break one for Kevin Norwood; however, by this time next year, I suspect we will have a good handle on Norwood’s future in the NFL. We will know whether the Seattle Seahawks were ahead of the curve in their decision to cut ties with Norwood or whether Norwood can reward the faith and patience that Dave Gettleman placed in him and develop into a significant contributor for the Carolina Panthers.

Although the recently-departed Jerricho Cotchery will unfortunately be known for the plays he was unable to make in Superbowl 50, during the stretch of last season as a possession slot receiver, Cotchery was one of the most essential and effective components in the Panthers offense. If the Panthers have a chance to replicate last year’s success, they will need players like Kevin Norwood to fill that void and begin flashing the promise that made him one of the best receiver prospects in the historically deep receiver draft class of 2014. I believe Norwood potentially presents a higher upside and more versatile successor to Jerricho Cotchery in the slot whose value will be on 3rd downs, scramble plays, and the red zone. Norwood also presents real value as a boundary receiver with deceptive vertical prowess.

Norwood could be an exciting option in these types of 3x1 formations that the Panthers had a lot of success with last year and in which Cotchery often served as the slot receiver (You can read more about them in CanadianPanther's highly insightful article here).



I don’t know why things never worked out for Norwood with the Seattle Seahawks. Whether it was injuries, lack of confidence, or some other factor, it’s never an encouraging sign for a team to cut ties with a player just a year removed of drafting him. Further, Seattle has a highly impressive and proven track record with developing receivers – Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Golden Tate, and Jermaine Kearse have all exhibited NFL potential that has greatly exceeded their pre-draft expectations.

That said, especially given Norwood’s character, deceptive physical profile, and highly promising football skillset he displayed at Alabama, I personally believe it’s possible they may have prematurely given up on Norwood. Additionally, it’s difficult to ignore some of the short-comings regarding Seahawks ability to develop or properly utilize size-receivers including Kevin Norwood, Chris Harper, and Chris Matthews; though it's debatable, I would personally add Jimmy Graham and Luke Willson to that list (except when they torch the Panthers). This aspect of developing and properly utilizing size-receivers is something that Ricky Proehl has excelled with; as evidenced with the growth of players such as Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess. Similarly, unlike Seattle’s track record, Proehl has excelled with players who were considered reclamation projects or simply failed to find their niche with other teams, such as Ted Ginn Jr.

Since high school, Norwood has been a late bloomer. Additionally, persevering through adversity is nothing new for him. In high school, from having to deal with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina early to developing into a one of the most coveted high school recruits in the nation. In college, from having to deal with being benched early and playing in an offense that underutilized him to becoming a leader and valuable clutch player that helped his team win three college national championships. In a way, Norwood’s NFL career has been met with similar roadblocks to this point. Norwood was once a highly coveted wide receiver prospect who has dealt with early failure and is currently at an important crossroads that will define what kind of professional career he will have in the NFL.

While the odds might be stacked against him, based on everything I’ve read about his past and character, based on how I perceive his terrific fit and increased opportunities in Carolina’s offense, as well as Ricky Proehl’s ability to develop receivers, based on the potential and skillset I’ve seen watching him at Alabama, I believe that Norwood will overcome this adversity and develop into a valuable contributor at the NFL level for the Carolina Panthers in the 2016 season and hopefully beyond.

Time for some more highlights!

Other Notes

Daryl Worley Edition

James Bradberry Edition

Zack Sanchez Edition