Jordan Norwood, Lydell Sargeant, and Rich Ohrnberger Scouting Reports

by BSD on Jan 28, 2009 12:32 PM EST in Football Comment 33 comments

Just a few tidbits from the Texas vs. the Universe (or whatever it's called) college All Star game. Jordan Norwood, for some reason, is playing for the Texas team and doing pretty well.

Jordan Norwood (WR-Penn State) - Norwood missed Monday’s practice because he was participating in a skill competition soon to be aired on ESPN, but he showed up Tuesday in mid-season form. His game was indistinguishable from teammate Deon Butler’s at the Shrine Game practices on the whole. Norwood flashed terrific natural quicks and speed, efficient, tight breaks in his routes, and exceptional body control. Norwood sinks his hips low on comebacks, and also uses head and shoulder fakes to create extra separation in his routes. He also gets his head around to locate the ball in flight very quickly and makes most everything look easy. Like Butler, he plays at a high speed, but still completely under control. Most of the defensive backs that tried to cover him were left befuddled, and he capped off the goal line drill with a one-handed, both-feet-in catch in the end zone that no defensive back on earth could have defensed. Norwood is in a class of his own among the WRs in El Paso.

Meanwhile, Rich Ohrnberger, who is playing for the Nation team, is doing ok too.

Rich Ohrnberger(OL-Penn State) - Ohrnberger gave max effort on every snap, just like he did yesterday, and he showed especially good ankle flex to absorb the pass rush. He’s not a high upside prospect, but guys like Ohrnberger hang around the league for a long time.

That was from the day two practice. This was day one.

Rich Ohrnberger(OL-Penn State) - Ohrnberger handled himself very well in the pit, easily dismissing Demonte Bolden and showing good fight, strength, and a strong base throughout.

And then there is this about cornerback Lydell Sargeant.

Lydell Sargeant (CB-Penn State) - Sargeant was very aggressive, physically challenging the wide receivers and making a good bid to break up most every pass thrown in his direction. Sargeant is anything but tentative when the ball is in the air.

And they think that's good, just wait until they see him sit back like a tree in Cover-3 defense. He's really at his best when the wide receiver is given an eight yard cushion to work with. Excuse me while I go slam my head in a door somewhere.

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Oh man

hearing about how great Sarge was in man to man and physical coverage bums me out. I just hope Scrap will incorporate both zone and man into the scheme next year.

by psuphiman80 on Jan 28, 2009 12:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I prefer

to use the wall to bang my head, for some reason the drywall just seems a little bit softer when i hear things like this and feel the need to do it.

Ben and Alex... first commits for 2024

by 3Yardout on Jan 28, 2009 12:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Do they use the bend but don't

Oh what the heck go ahead and suck defense in the NFL?

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Jan 28, 2009 12:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You have the NFL confused

with the Big XII, I think.

John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...

by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Jan 28, 2009 1:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Only in Detroit.

--
Mr. Bob Dobalina

by Run Up The Score on Jan 28, 2009 1:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Jordan Norwood

Isn’t he orginally from Texas, and my guess (Baylor DC) is a coach for the Texas team, and probably pulled some strings to get his boy on his squad.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Jan 28, 2009 12:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brian Norwood

Brian was the DC at Texas Tech before coming to PSU. Norwood has spent a good chunk of time in Texas.

by psuphiman80 on Jan 28, 2009 1:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Huh?

I thought we got Brian Norwood out of Hawaii?

There is a tractor in the parking lot, West Virginia license EIEIO. Your lights are on.

by leeharvey418 on Jan 29, 2009 8:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Okay, not Hawaii...

He went to school there, but apparently he has never coached at Hawaii.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Brian was the Defensive Backs coach at Texas Tech for one year (2000)- hardly anthing that I’d call a real connection between Jordan and the state of Texas…

There is a tractor in the parking lot, West Virginia license EIEIO. Your lights are on.

by leeharvey418 on Jan 29, 2009 9:53 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Scirrotto

I notice there’s no mention of him.

by mrb5091 on Jan 28, 2009 1:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nothing yet

I’ll keep my eyes open.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 28, 2009 1:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't wait...

….until Zug is a senior and this game is called Zug vs. The Universe.

Just kidding, great to see Norwood doing well. It is interesting to see the 3 muskateers all excelling in the varios senior games. This year confirmed that it truly was #14 that held these guys back and not the coaching staff.

WE ARE.......PENN STATE!

by Nick7 on Jan 28, 2009 1:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bloodbath

Most of these players want to go on to have productive lives and jobs, either in the NFL or elsewhere, so I doubt they’d risk being vaporized on the spot.

by dawsonPSU10 on Jan 28, 2009 5:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If they were vaporized on the spot

wouldn’t it be more like a Bloodsauna?

by The JuggerNitt on Jan 29, 2009 8:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Norwood

“Norwood flashed terrific natural quicks and speed” – do they know he’s not from the SEC?
“Most of the defensive backs that tried to cover him were left befuddled” – gotta love beffudling someone!
“Norwood is in a class of his own among the WRs in El Paso.” – wait til they see Zug!!

"The sea was angry that day, my friends." G. Costanza

by NJ lion on Jan 28, 2009 3:02 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

ARGH!

I’m sorry, but hearing about Sarge’s talent in man coverage just really tears it for me. I can accept a soft cushy zone to protect our under-talented kids from major disaster. But to go on to learn that they are in fact plenty talented and plenty capable of handling a real defensive scheme I want to puke.

Bradley needs to leave this soft zone thing behind. Just drop it. We have the LB’s and line to shut down 80% of the field, don’t make that other %20 the easiest place to go with the football.

"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.

by millzners on Jan 28, 2009 3:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Could it be the writer

I hate to insinuate anything but might the other cushy thing here be the writer of the piece? Is there any incentive for him to be critical?

Keep it in perspective

by JuniataMan on Jan 28, 2009 4:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This seems polite but critical to me

Chase Patton (QB-Missouri) – Patton is struggling. He looks like a QB that hasn’t had much game action in the last four years. Patton has been tentative, sometimes appearing to be guessing more than reading the play. He’s also had to step from the line to double check something about the play multiple times after the offense is set. His mechanics are inconsistent. Still, when the mechanics are on, he throws a nice ball with a high release point. There’s no way that this is Patton’s A game, so we’ll give him a pass and hope that things improve by the time Saturday’s game rolls around. While we were hoping for Patton to come in and turn heads, rocketing up draft boards, he’s probably an end of draft practice squad stash at best.

Actually, was there any commentary here at the Shoe about the Shrine Game & Deon Butler?

by Aaron PSU on Jan 28, 2009 5:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Butler

He did great. Scouts said he was the best looking WR in the game.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 28, 2009 7:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Who the hell is Chase Patton?

Did they mean Chase Daniels? That’s a HUGE mistake, it’s not like he was under the radar the last couple years. Makes me question the article.

by PSU Nick on Jan 28, 2009 8:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nope.

Two Chases. Patton was the backup to Daniels.

by Cairo on Jan 28, 2009 8:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And with the TE Chase Kaufman

Was there anyone not named Chase on Mizzou’s roster (yes, Maclin, I know)

by PSU Nick on Jan 28, 2009 8:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

For clarity's sake

It’s Chase Daniel. No ‘s’. Patton was a huge recruit out of high school, I think a high school All-American, with a big arm and NFL size. Daniel was a chubby kid with a great high school record coming out of Carroll Texas and was used to playing the spread, so he got a jump on Patton and never looked back once he got on the field.

There was an article in ESPN the mag not too long ago that went just short of predicting that Chase Patton would be the better pro despite never seeing much of the field in college, so there’s probably more interest in him than there would be for any other backup in college.

by jimbo2psu on Jan 29, 2009 8:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Especially

Seeing the success that Cassel had with the Patriots this season, if they dont fit into the spread @ college, this is the chance that they can show what they have (or dont have) to perform under center. See quarterback play in most of the other “all-star senior” games.

Side note: Used to really enjoy these games before the overabundance of games on TV, when this would be the opportunity to see players that you never would have seen otherwise.

Ben and Alex... first commits for 2024

by 3Yardout on Jan 29, 2009 9:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I really hope TB gets a new HC gig somewhere, let LJ or Vandy call the D

Press coverage boys…it’s not a bad thing.

by SweepTheLeg on Jan 28, 2009 4:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Can we just plug in a new DC

and get the same results? Other than the maddening coverage, we’ve had great success.

Keep it in perspective

by JuniataMan on Jan 28, 2009 5:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

The one thing we have always been able to count on is our defense, it is like the not too pretty girl next door you know you could always go out with so you take her for granted. Over the years our D has been stout no matter how good the team is, and I think Bradley is behind that. Prior to 2005 defense was all we had, and there is a chance that a new coordinator will screw it up.

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Jan 28, 2009 8:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The ever living

struggle between what you know and have and what is unknown. Sure, SOMEBODY could maybe run our defense better than TB, but who? Is it worth risking something solid? Who knows, but like they say be careful what you wish for.

by Roland86 on Jan 28, 2009 8:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Confirmation

This article just confirms what we already knew here in Nittany. We had 3 excellent wide receivers. Norwood has always impressed me. Hell I got his jersey autographed because I was so impressed with his toughness and athletic ability. Speaking of; what is this espn thing they are talking about? I wanna see Norwood run down some walls. I will miss this wide receiver class.

by Rockin on Jan 28, 2009 9:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

indeed

I like how our WR’s have basically been the top WR’s in all 3 of these camps/games.

by The JuggerNitt on Jan 29, 2009 8:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It would be nice if we did do some more man coverage

at least to bump the opposing WRs with our CBs at the line and disrupt their routes. We have safeties for a reason, though perhaps we were protecting them

by The JuggerNitt on Jan 29, 2009 8:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

We had to have been protecting somebody

It’s not like our coaching staff has never heard of man coverage before, or that they don’t practice it to see how it works with our personnel. Seems to me that if it doesn’t end up on the field Saturday, then it’s a product of the coaches knowing better than to use it. I’m sure we were capable of playing some man defense here and there, but our coaching staff made a calculated decision not to because the risk was greater than the reward. I’m not saying I agree with getting torched by USC because of the zone either, but more often than not our coaches have the best players and schemes out on the field.

by jimbo2psu on Jan 29, 2009 9:03 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs