I was going to post this after the Giants signed him, but oh well. It's mostly a glowing review, there's a lot that Norwell does very, very well. But he has his weaknesses, he's not perfect...
His hands allow him to stifle the initial hammer of a stunt, and pass defenders off to teammates in a controlled manner. This, plus his rapid lateral quickness, puts him in position to pick up the looper. Add all this to some big brains, and you get a guard who is a master of picking up stunts and blitzes. |
He’s quick laterally, but he isn’t quick vertically. |
Norwell can pull to the first level and clear multiple blockers out of the hole at once, but struggles some when pulling to the second level. |
For future teams thinking about signing him they would be better off keeping or changing to an inside zone and power scheme. He can block the outside zone at the first level...Norwell overwhelms defenders at the point of the attack. The problem is you want to limit how often he’s chasing linebackers in space. |
So, yes, Norwell is a an excellent player, but he’s not the best guard in football. Marshal Yanda, Brandon Brooks, Zach Martin, and David DeCastro are all better. He’s excellent, but is just outside this top tier. |
Good detail, lots of examples via video and screen captures - (
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