Carolina Panthers: Josh Norman predicted success in 2012

Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman wasn’t shy about predicting his success as a prospect back in 2012, and it turns out — he was right all along…

Before he was the best cornerback in the NFL — and I think that’s been evident throughout this season — Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman was a relatively unknown prospect coming out of Coastal Carolina.

He was originally preparing to play in the Senior Bowl back in 2012 when he was considered by many to be a top 100 prospect based on the abilities he showed while at Coastal Carolina, but it looked as though a strong offseason could propel him into the second round of the draft. As the story goes, it didn’t, but Norman had talked to us at NFL Mocks at the time about his experience at the East-West Shrine game and his preparation in going up against some of the ‘All Stars’ of college football.

“The experience was really positive,” Norman said in an interview back in 2012. “You’re playing against some of the best players in the nation, and it’s just another opportunity to get better. The Senior Bowl was actually the first game I was slotted to go to, and so I talked to my agent about it. I was kind of ‘iffy’ about it at first, but this is what I do–I compete. Who cares about stocks in the draft or if you had a bad day? I look at it as competing with the best of the best. Any time I get an opportunity to go and line up in front of someone who is so called the ‘best’ in the nation, I will take it with no hesitation.”

At the time, Norman said he had grown up an Indianapolis Colts fan, and he gave himself a comparison of sort of a Charles Woodson/Bob Sanders hybrid due to his physicality, ball skills, and intensity…

“I grew up an Indianapolis Colts fan, but I love every team. If I could take a little mix of Charles Woodson, mixed with Bob Sanders, just tenacity, fierce, aggressive, and just taking the best the other team has to offer and doing my best to lock them down, take them out of the game.”

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My favorite thing that Norman said, and this gets to the point of the title of the article, was what he said when I asked him if I were an NFL GM, why should I take Josh Norman? His response has proven prophetic:

“Because he’s going to give you all he’s got, and on top of that take the best option and I guarantee you the best on defense is going to take out the best on offense nine times out of ten, like a Darrelle Revis. I can be that guy.”

He has certainly been that guy for the Panthers in 2015, and is in line for a massive pay day in 2016. Norman has shut down some of the game’s best receivers in incredibly impressive fashion this year, helping the Panthers to a 14-0 record so far this season and one of the most epic battles of the year between he and another rising NFL superstar in Odell Beckham Jr.

He even managed to get under Beckham’s skin enough to the point that he earned himself a one-game suspension next week as the Giants continue to fight for a division title.

Norman has been sensational, and the crazy thing is — he knew it all along.

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