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Carolina Panthers elite CB Josh Norman gets NFL Spin Zone Player of the Week

By Kevin Parvizi

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With all due respect to Pittsburgh Steelers superstar running back Le’Veon Bell, who was absolutely brilliant in his team’s tough loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football, this week’s “Player of the Week” honors have to go to Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman.

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A rising star, Norman is playing out of his mind through the first four weeks of the regular season, and he saved his best playmaking display for mistake-prone Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Jameis Winston. The No. 1 overall pick threw four interceptions on Sunday, essentially gifting the Panthers a 4-0 record. Two of those interceptions went to Norman, as Winston inexplicably tested Norman often, probably not realizing that he was going after one of the NFL’s best CBs.

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After those two picks, Norman is now the league leader with four interceptions, and no other player has more than two picks on the season so far. The numbers he’s putting up are nothing short of extraordinary, and it means that the 27-year-old Coastal Carolina product is a lock to make some serious bank this offseason. Dave Gettleman unwisely passed up on the chance to sign him to what would have been a team-friendly extension this offseason, and Norman has seemingly priced himself out of the Panthers range.

Until that drama unfolds in the 2016 offseason, Panthers fans can enjoy watching elite play at the cornerback position for the first time since the underrated beast that was Chris Gamble lined up in the secondary. Make no mistake, the Panthers have received good corner play from the likes of Bene Benwikere, but they haven’t seen a corner of this level in a long time.

In fact, I’d wager that Norman, who has two pick-sixes on the season after taking one of Winston’s interceptions to the house on Sunday, has been better than any corner this year. Only Buffalo Bills insanely good rookie Ronald Darby has more passes defended than Norman this year, so that’s also worth considering.

With 19 tackles (16 solo), one fumble forced, and one fumble recovered, Josh Norman has also made plays outside of what he does in coverage. Again, his stat sheet after four weeks looks absolutely phenomenal, and he delivered a season-defining type of performance against the Buccaneers in Week 4.

The scary thing is that Norman’s season is far from defined despite already having four picks and eight PDs to his credit, and it’s crazy to think that he’s averaging an interception per game. Norman broke out last season, but he’s having something of a second breakout season in 2015.

In short, it would have been foolish to give this weekly award to anyone other than the Carolina Panthers No. 1 cornerback, and more people need to start recognizing him like he’s a superstar player. He’s not some fluke, because we saw him play well in the 2014 season.

Hopefully, he gets sufficient national attention before he hits the free agent market, since it seems like star defensive players who don’t play for elite defenses, such as when Michael Bennett toiled away for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before becoming a bargain free agent signing by the Seattle Seahawks in 2013,  don’t get recognition until they sign a new contract.

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