CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Josh Norman went from a fifth-round draft pick out of little-known Coastal Carolina to a Pro Bowl cornerback being paid among the highest at his position. That is why he is my top-rated late-round pick for the Carolina Panthers.
Fourteen cornerbacks were chosen ahead of Norman in the 2012 draft. Three were taken in the first round, including Morris Claiborne out of LSU, with the sixth overall pick to the Dallas Cowboys. Only Norman, the 143rd overall pick, has made the Pro Bowl.
Norman’s 2015 season was one of the most complete by a defensive back in team history. Norman had four of his seven career interceptions that season and returned two of them for touchdowns. Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 54.0 when throwing in Norman’s direction. No cornerback posted a better rating, according to Pro Football Focus.
Norman was so impressive that the Panthers placed the franchise tag on him, which guaranteed that with a $13.95 million salary, he will be among the five highest-paid corners in the NFL in 2016.
The team would like to sign Norman to a long-term deal, but whether that will happen remains to be seen. Because the two sides aren’t close on terms, Norman hasn’t signed the tag and will skip the start of voluntary offseason workouts, which begin Monday. His value has gone up that much since 2012.
Why wasn’t Norman drafted higher? In part because he was considered an unfinished product that hadn’t played big-time college football. That his official 40-yard dash time entering the draft was relatively slow, at 4.66 seconds, didn’t help.
But the Panthers saw a big cornerback (6-foot, 183 pounds) who could play in zone or man coverage. Norman was so impressive from the outset that he started the first 12 games of his rookie season, before his lack of discipline proved costly.
He didn’t re-earn the complete trust of the coaching staff until early in the 2014 season, when he resumed his starting role. Since then, few corners have put up better numbers than Norman's.
HONORABLE MENTION
Greg Hardy, DE, Ole Miss: Were it not for his off-the-field troubles (domestic violence case in 2014), Hardy easily could have been argued over Norman. A sixth-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2010, Hardy started 16 games in his second season and 40 of 63 before the legal issues began. He had 34 career sacks for Carolina and tied Kevin Greene (1998) for the team’s single-season record with 15 in 2013.
Captain Munnerlyn, CB, South Carolina: The Panthers got him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft because at 5-foot-9, 182 pounds, he was considered undersized. But Munnerlyn played big. He started four games as a rookie, five his second season and 41 of 46 games over the next three seasons. He had seven interceptions and returned five for touchdowns before going to Minnesota in free agency in 2014.