Norvell has been an interesting prospect to watch through the 2011 recruiting season. For months now, he had been committed to the Marshall Thundering Herd but was looking around particularly at Cincinnati and South Florida, near his hometown of Daytona Beach. Although a soft commit to Marshall, Norvell visited UC when the Bearcats played Louisville on October 15th but also appears to have taken a trip to South Florida a month later in November. After sitting on offers from those three schools along with Temple, Norvell informed Coach Jones that he would switch his commitment to the Bearcats this past weekend.
Overview
The first thing to look at with a quarterback is his measurables, especially in the Coach Jones/Bajakian system which requires the signal caller to peer over the offensive line from inside the pocket and make plays from there. At 6’4″, Norvell is easily capable of this and plays in a system in high school that, from a passing standpoint, appears to be somewhat similar to what he will see at Cincinnati. The quarterback also has a live arm and a smooth throwing motion and looks to be able to make most throws all over the field. Norvell also seems to read the field well, continuously keeping his eyes downfield and working through his progressions. As a runner, he has solid size around 200 lbs and moves well on designed runs and when the play breaks down.
Outlook
It’s really anybody’s guess at this point who will be the starting quarterback in 2012. Munchie Legaux will be the clear front runner but guys like Patrick Coyne and Bennie Coney could easily slip into the mix. At first glance, Norvell has just about everything you want from a quarterback in the Jones/Bajakian offense but he definitely needs to add some weight to his frame. He’s tall and has a good arm but a year in the weight room will do him some good, especially with how much the QB does run the ball at Cincinnati. Therefore, I think Norvell will take a redshirt his freshman year to better understand the very complicated offense and bulk up. But he’s an intriguing prospect that has a lot of the intangibles to succeed at the college level.
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