Jordon Norwood Gets Some Love. Finally.

In a recent article by Tom Reed of the PD, what has been obvious to many of us ever since he's been here that Jordon Norwood looks great.  

He's probably a little better than he was before, but he was always good.  He has great hands, he's nearly as fast as Benjamin, and he gets open.  He's a short little guy like Benjamin, but is built much more solidly.

In Squarepeg Shurmer's West Coast offense last season, when he got his shot due to injury, he caught a bunch of underneath passes, mostly from the slot.  As a result, he averaged around 10 yards per catch.  This doesn't reflect his real potential, as he can outrun most cornerbacks; he can make big plays.

In Turner's deeper passing offense, the short and intermediate zones will be a lot less conjested, so that if he does catch, say, and eight yarder, he'll sometimes have a chance to make a move and elude a defender with it.

A very good analyst projected Jordan as a potential cut a couple weeks ago, and I reluctantly agreed.  I no longer think so.  If they keep six, I believe Jordan sticks.  While Josh Cooper reminds me of Brian Brennan and I really like the kid, he can't do the same kind of damage that Norwood can with the ball, and Norwood probably has better hands for that matter.

Keenan McCardell.  Remember him?  That's Norwood.

Now, David Nelson reminds me of Joe Jurevicious.  But if he's not completely healed and back to 100%, he could be placed on IR.

Another point that's often overlooked: Travis Benjamin is the presumptive punt returner, and he's very, very small.  They won't want to use him a whole lot, regardless of how dangerous he is.  Norwood is a similar type.  He's behind Benji as a punt returner, and is in the running for kick returns.  They'll also look hard at him for the coverage units (you can forget Benjamin there, by the way).

Devone Bess: There's another player Norwood is similar to.  He's actually probably just as good as Bess, only was never given a fair shot.  Yes, very similar.  He could probably step in for Bess without Weeden having to adjust a thing.

In the Dawg Pound Daily, I read another good article by Steve DiMateo on Trent Richardson.  It was insightful and smart, but I was bothered by the "hold yer horses" attitude as he discussed comparisons between TRich and Emmitt Smith and Ray Rice.

No, Steve, we don't need a truckload of grains of salt, and it's not a stretch at all.  Quit trying to be Yoda.  TRich was talked about as the best back to come out since Adrian Peterson.  If he remains healthy there is an excellent chance he'll be a superstar in the NFL. That's not optimism. It's realism.  And yeah, he's a WHOLE lot like Ray Rice.

But except for the obligatory politically correct disclaimers, it was a fine article. 

The conclusion-leapers are fitting Montario Hardesty for cement overshoes already, but this time they might be right.  Hardesty really kicks butt when he's healthy and would be a hard cut, but the Browns are now pretty stacked at the position.  If they don't think he'll stay healthy, he's a goner.  (Note I said IF THEY THINK, ok?)

I'm pleased (but not surprised blush-blush) to hear that Obgannaya has been taking the first team reps at fullback.  See previous posts, and try to find that anywhere else.

Now step away from the black helicopters on the Josh Gordon thing.  It is possible that he was dogging it, but it's more likely that he IS lame and was trying to work through it, just like Chud said.  Yeah, Turner yelled at him to "finish", but if he was in pain, he'd find that difficult, and might react badly to such a harangue.

Refer to previous comments by both Chud and Turner about how hard the kid had been working.

Most likely, after yelling at him, Turner said "What the hell is wrong with you?", Gordon said "It's the damn leg!"  Turner would then have said "go see the trainers"---no longer angry.  Get it?

At least I HOPE that's the deal.

Sounds like Owens just MIGHT BE a pretty good cornerback after all.  (Blah blah it's still early blah-blah a lot can happen blah-blah a long way to go am I covered?).  The most encouraging thing is that while he's only 5'9", he's covering a bunch of skyscrapers with the first team, and overcoming that disadvantage.

We can only hope.