Josh Norman was fantastic during the 2015 season for the Carolina Panthers. Taking the assignment of the opposing team’s best receiver, he more often than not won the matchup. Still, he didn’t impress everyone. Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris doesn’t rank Norman as one of the top corners in the game.
"Revis, Talib, me" – @ChrisHarrisJr on best corners. No Josh Norman? "You got to be good more than one year." pic.twitter.com/s1IgRRqHbJ
— Doctor of Words (& tights & over/under guesses) (@docllv) April 20, 2016
Interestingly enough, Harris is not the first person to diminish Norman’s lack of longevity, as former teammate Steve Smith did the same thing in January.
Objectively, this is a tricky argument to make.
While longevity is important in establishing greatness, it also often goes hand in hand with being washed up, especially at a speed-based position like cornerback. If you’re great for one year, you can be dismissed as a one hit wonder. If you do it for a long time, you can be dismissed as over the hill.
Something else worth noting is that Harris omitted both Patrick Peterson from the Arizona Cardinals and Richard Sherman from the Seattle Seahawks.
Don’t be surprised if we hear from one or both of them.