Passing Game

For nose tackles, or run stuffers in general, the main way of influencing the passing game is by pushing the pocket and allowing the players around them to make plays. This isn’t extremely valuable from a defensive point of view, but if nothing else it creates a baseline from which everything else can build upon. Miami had enough talent on defense last season to rarely leave Norton in situations where he has to resort to simply pushing the pocket, but the strength he used to such great effect in the running game does also have some value in the passing game:

Where Norton does have issues, as with the rushing game, is with his pad level, as his tendency to get overly upright out of his stance remains, leading to plays where Norton simply gets negated:

Some of this appears to be fatigue-related, as late in games, it appears every snap is something of a struggle, with any semblance of technique going out the window:

Improving his pad level and his stamina should be a primary focus for Norton this summer, if he can get lower with consistency, he should be a factor on almost every passing down, but at the moment he makes it just too easy for offensive linemen to jack him up and take him out of the play at times. This is not, however, some fundamental error that cannot be changed – many players have shown an ability to improve in this way during their time in the NFL, but that is the task facing Norton.

For teams to invest significant time and effort into developing a young player like Norton, they need to have the promise of a payoff down the road, and with Norton that payoff likely lies in his ability to use his hands to shed blocks and disrupt the pocket. Firstly, he does a good job of preventing blockers from properly engaging him, forcing them to try and stop him once he already has an angle and momentum advantage. On the next play, he uses a nice swim move to shed the initial block by the center and then gets underneath the guard and drives through to put pressure on the quarterback:

When blockers do engage him, he get his hands inside the frame of the blockers, giving him a leverage ability allowing him to rip free of the block:

Even when he fails to get good initial position, he uses his strength to rip free from blockers:

In combination with his quickness and strength, hand usage of this sort should allow for Norton to be an effective pass rusher in the NFL, especially for a player who is not a specialist in this area. If he can improve his pad level on a consistent basis then he has the potential to offer a significant pass rushing upgrade over Kyle Love, a factor that may well decide the order of the two on the preseason depth chart.

Norton’s value is as much about what he can become as what he is right now, even though he has the requisite skills to offer value as a rush snuffer with flashes of a pass rush from day one. If he can improve his pad level then he will force double teams in the run game, and cause consistent issues for teams which looks to help away from him in pass protection. The Panthers took a big step forward in replacing Star Lotulelei with Dontari Poe this offseason, as Poe’s ability as a pass rusher will create problems for teams that look to help off of him, and helping onto him will almost certainly leave Kawann Short in a one-on-one situation. The pairing of Vernon Butler and Kendrick Norton might not strike the same fear into offenses just yet, but if Norton can show progress through camp, there is a good chance this pairing are not quite so anonymous come midseason.