All RB projections   •  Current RB rankings   •   All ATL projections   •  ATL team report   •  ATL Stats

RB Jerious Norwood, Atlanta Falcons

HT: 6-0, WT: 204, Born: 7-29-1983, College: Mississippi State, Drafted: Round 3

2008 Projections

Best Case

Jerious Norwood will be the change of pace/passing down back now that Michael Turner has blown into town. Turner has a mere 11 receptions during his 4 year NFL career, while Norwood is a proven, dangerous receiver out of the backfield (28/277/0 receiving last season, with 40/379/0 during his career). He also has the acceleration/burst and top-end speed to gain yardage in chunks (he averages 6.2 yards per carry during his career, with an impressive 201/1248/3 track record). If Turner takes a while to get up to speed after rehabbing his shoulder injury/surgery, he could find himself in a running back by committee with Norwood - it would be no surprise to see Norwood equal his first two seasons in the NFL (~600 yards rushing, with 100-200 yards receiving), and he could conceivably go over 1,000 yards combined if he gets an extra 3-4 carries per game and 1 more reception per contest this year (Norwood have seen right around 7 carries a game in his first 2 campaigns, with 1-2 receptions per contest). There could very well be 25-30 carries per game in the cards for the Atlanta RB stable if Matt Ryan is starting at QB early on during the year.

Worst Case

If Michael Turner wows the coaching staff during training camp and proves to be durable enough for 25 carries per game, Norwood's role could decrease to an ocassional carry with the odd 3rd-down appearance in passing situations. If this occurs, his workload could drop off to the point that Norwood becomes a fantasy non-factor.

Outlook

Norwood should log roughly 100 carries and perhaps 30 receptions this season, and land somewhere in the high30s/low 40's among all fantasy backs when the season is said and done. He'll be a handcuff/insurance pick partnered with Turner in most leagues, although he might make a marginal RB3 in the point-per-reception format.

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Norwood was nut much of a factor in the Falcons' overall game plan, but he did produce when given the opportunity. Norwood finished with 33 yards on only five carries on the ground, and 24 yards on two receptions. Norwood had what would have been a third reception nullified by a defensive penalty. When running the ball, he ran strong and displayed some nice moves, making multiple defenders miss on one run. Norwood also showed good speed turning the corner on an outside run. However, he was not on the field consistently, and both Norwood and Dunn appeared in the game on third downs.

Week 2 - Norwood did not have many opportunities to run the ball, but did show an ability to make the initial defender miss, but like Dunn, was wrapped up by other defenders. Norwood could have had better receiving numbers, but was overthrown a couple of times, dropped an easy pass and had a reception called back due to an offensive penalty.

Week 3 - Norwood carried the ball six times for 32 yards. He broke off a 26 yard run which included a face mask penalty on Carolina. The play got the ball down to the Carolina 21 yard line and set up the second Atlanta touchdown. He got just two red zone carries. Norwood had two carries brought back due to penalty negating 19 rushing yards. He caught three passes for 34 yards. Norwood also handled the kickoff return duties and had a couple of good returns. He had a return of 46 yards and another of 44 yards, which ended up being brought back due to an Atlanta penalty.

Week 4 - Norwood also ran hard and seemed close to breaking free a few times. A few times he showed his explosiveness bursting through the line of scrimmage, but Atlanta's linebackers would prevent him from any big gains.

Week 5 - Norwood saw less time on the playing field compared to his counterpart Warrick Dunn, though had a higher average per carry, gaining 3.8 yards per carry to Dunn's 2.7 yards per carry.

Week 6 - Even though Norwood came into this game averaging almost a yard more per carry then teammate RB Warrick Dunn, he has seen less then half the number carries than his backfield mate. He added to that average by taking his first carry to the house on a 67 yard touchdown run on the Falcons' first play of their second drive of the game. Norwood took to the right side and made a great open field move and cut it back to the left side. He showed his excellent speed by outrunning the New York secondary. He also had a nice 16 yard run up the middle of the field late in the second quarter. Norwood had 83 yards at halftime but only had four carries. Norwood would only get four more yard rushing in the second half but did have four catches for 51 yards.

Week 7 - Norwood averaged 6.3 yards per carry, but received less than half as many carries as counterpart Warrick Dunn. Norwood received two carries inside the ten yard late in the game, but found little room on first and second down. Norwood three targets were split with two coming from Byron Leftwich and one from Joey Harrington.

Week 9 - Norwood looked very good until he injured his ankle. He was able to return but then aggravated it upon his return. Even before he got hurt, he was getting only about a quarter of the carries.

Week 11 - Norwood wasn't used much in the game, running the ball just two times for four yards and catching the only two passes thrown his way for ten yards. He did have a big play in the return game, running a kickoff back 87 yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back on an Atlanta penalty.

Week 12 - Norwood shared snaps with Dunn but ended up being on the short end of carries and targets on the day. He had rushes of 14 and eight, and several short gains. He was a hit or miss running back, which might be attributed to the stellar Colts defense.

Week 13 - Norwood had three big runs on only eight carries, one of which was a 35-yard carry that set up a fourth quarter touchdown. His three receptions were all for short gains. He basically split time evenly with Warrick Dunn.

Week 14 - Norwood was one of the three running backs for the Falcons who could not get much going on the ground. He had a run of seven yards, which was the longest of any back for the Falcons, but he only gained 14 yards on five other carries. He did have a huge gain on a pass play over the middle; he broke two tackles en route to a 46 yard gain.

Week 15 - Norwood led Atlanta in rushing with nine rushes for 73 yards and was really the only Atlanta offensive player to find room to make plays against the Tampa Bay defense. He was targeted twice in the passing game, but did not record a reception.

Week 16 - Like Dunn, Norwood was not a factor in the game, due to Atlanta all but abandoning the run game. Norwood was more explosive than Dunn, and did contribute to the Atlanta field position by returning the kick offs.

Week 17 - Norwood had one long catch on the day, but all of his rushing yards were small gains. He split the carries almost dead even with Warrick Dunn.