The Penn State Football Show

BUTLER

Deon Butler will leave Penn State as one of the school’s most productive wide receivers of all time. He has the most receptions in Penn State history. He is second all-time in career receiving yards, and third in receiving touchdowns. He has been the team’s top deep threat since his freshman season, and most recently, he impressed scouts with a scorching 4.38 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine last month.

His impressive career at Penn State already had Butler on many teams’ radars for the draft. His tremendous combine bumped him up a few notches on everyone’s draft boards. However, his lack of size will without a doubt limit his NFL potential. With the draft now only a month away, where can we expect Deon Butler to be taken in the draft? Here is my outlook on the former walk-on defensive back:

POSTIIVES: Tremendous deep-threat and incredible ability to get open deep. Good concentration once the ball is in the air. While he doesn’t always catch the ball with his hands, he seems to always end up making the catch anyway. Has pretty good moves in the open field to juke defenders. Despite being small, he’s pretty tough and does not go down without a fight – although many times I just wanted him to go down so he wouldn’t fumble. Durable player – I can’t remember him ever missing any time in all four years due to injury. Obviously very fast. I was not expecting a 4.38 in the 40, I never thought he was that fast, but he did beat his man deep very often, so it makes sense. He really impressed scouts at the East-West Shrine Game, where he was head-and-shoulders above every other receiver there. Great character, very level-headed. Former walk-on that works hard.

NEGATIVES: Size. He is probably around 5’9” or 5’10” and does not weigh much more than 170 lbs. Obviously, this is not ideal size for an NFL wide receiver. This is the number one thing that is holding him back. Also, like Williams, he is not really a natural hands catcher. He often uses his body to make catches, but, like I mentioned before, he still seems to make every catch. I can’t remember him ever dropping a pass. Still, you want a natural pass-catcher who can go out and snag the ball with his hands, which is not how Butler usually catches the ball. Also, not a very good blocker.

PROJECTION: His sub 4.4 40 time at the Combine will guarantee that he will be drafted next month. It probably even bumped him up from the seventh round to the fourth, fifth or sixth. He won’t go any earlier than that because of his size, but there will be a number of teams interested in taking a shot on him due to his speed and his impressive career at Penn State. The emergence of DeSean Jackson last year will help Butler’s case as NFL teams might not be as concerned about his size as they used to be. Butler will never be an elite NFL wide receiver, and most likely won’t ever be a regular starter. However, I think he can be very helpful to a team as a deep threat that can give you a big play every now and then – like Nate Washington for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I am excited to see if Butler can make a splash in the NFL.

NORWOOD

POSITIVES: Hands! Norwood may have the best hands in this draft. They are like suction cups. He catches everything thrown his way. If you haven't seen the video of his performance at the skills competition, you need to it becaue it was ridiculous.

Athleticism: Norwood is an incredible all-around athlete. He is a phenomenal basketball player that led State College High to the State Championship – he even made Penn State’s basketball team. He has tremendous body control and concentration. Despite a lack of size, he has a remarkable ability to go up and get the ball in traffic – see his catch against Michigan in the final drive of the 05 game.

While he lacks straight-line speed, he is very quick, and runs very precise routes. He does a great job of getting open. Also, like Butler, he has great character and is very modest and level-headed.

NEGATIVES: Size. Just like Butler, Norwood is undersized for an NFL wide receiver. He played his senior year at around 168 pounds. He was listed at about 180 at the Pro Day, but who knows if he can keep that up. Even if he can, that is still pretty small. He does not have much meat on him, he is very skinny. In addition to his small body frame, he looks very young as well. Believe it or not, this actually could hurt him. NFL personnel executives may have a hard time taking him seriously as an NFL prospect after meeting with him in person. Also, he lacks good straight-line speed. He is a 4.6 guy, which doesn’t really cut it in the NFL at his size. However, in my opinion, his quickness, shiftiness, and route-running can make up for his lack of speed.

PROJECTION: Norwood is very difficult for me to project. If you see the kid in person, you would immediately say that there is no way that he can make it in the NFL. He is just too small and skinny. However, if you watch him on a basketball court or on the football field, you can not help but be awed by his sheer athleticism. I am of the opinion that Norwood could benefit an NFL team if one would be willing to give him a shot. I’m just not so sure that one will. If he gets drafted at all, it will not be until the sixth or seventh rounds. If I had to guess, I would say that he will not get drafted, but will be given a shot in free agency.

If a team is willing to take a flyer on this kid, I honestly think his ability to get open and catch the ball could prove to be very helpful. I know most “possession receivers” are ideally 6’2” or taller, but Norwood’s reliable hands and route running could make him a solid possession receiver that a quarterback could turn to on third downs when a first down conversion is needed.

As a 2008 Penn State graduate, I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood continue to shock me and prove me wrong throughout their incredible careers. I look forward with high hope and great curiosity to see how they make out at the next level.

These numbers from NFL.com look more realistic for the Penn State Pro Day:

They have DWill in the high 4.4 low 4.5 range, and Maybin in the 4.6 range.

http://blogs.nfl.com/category/pro-days/