Kevin Norwood: What’s up with this trade?
Former Alabama receiver Kevin Norwood was acquired by the Carolina Panthers in a preseason trade with the Seattle Seahawks. According to the deal, there was a future 2017 pick pick exchanged of unknown value. It could be the details are not released yet or it could be based on Norwood’s performance.
So what is so neat about Kevin Norwood that the Panthers would reach and inquire about the guy instead of trying to snag him on the open market? After all, the Seahawks were reportedly leaning toward cutting this guy anyway. So what gives?
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1. Big Body
Norwood is a 6’2” 200 lbs receiver. That may not seem large by NFL standards, but you are forgetting who the Panthers have on board currently. They started 5’11” Corey Brown and 6’0” Ted Ginn against the Patriots. The Panthers planned to have a big receiver trio – Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, and Greg Olsen – to give quarterback Cam Newton the most target area to hit. Benjamin is out for the year and Funchess has been preventively kept out of preseason action. The result is that the Panthers need bigger targets as insurance policies. This is the same reason the Panthers signed Jarrett Boykin.
2. Hands
Norwood’s NFL Combine profile reveals a receiver with good instincts. He concentrates on catching the ball and can make the difficult catch. Again this fits with the kind of receiver the Panthers are trying to put with Newton. It also is a current weakness of Corey Brown’s game as revealed against the Patriots.
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3. Agility
Norwood had the best 3-cone drill time of the wide receiver group at the 2014 NFL Combine.
And that is about it. Norwood comes from the Seahawks who used him sparingly last year. Before that he comes from Alabama where he was part of the Saban run of success. It should be noted that he has little time to make an impression and if he does, the Panthers will have to cut someone else like Boykin or Brenton Bersin to make him fit.