Eric Norwood Scouting Report

Norwood is one of those rare college athletes who stick around for four years and are absolute forces in all four of those seasons. The Gamecock linebacker arrived in Columbia in 2006 and promptly tied for the team lead with seven sacks as a freshman. He was named to the All-SEC First Team as both a sophomore and junior and he was even better as a senior. Norwood led South Carolina in the following categories: solo tackles (55), tackles for loss (11.5), sacks (tied with seven), interceptions (two), quarterback hurries (11) and blocked kicks (three). He finished second in both assists (26) and total tackles (81). Even without such a remarkable 2009 campaign, Norwood was already the program's career leader with 43 tackles for loss and third with 22 sacks after just three seasons. It goes without saying that Norwood is an extremely durable player, as he never missed a single game in his college life. Not only will NFL scouts be thrilled with that, but they also have to love Norwood's speed that makes him a standout outside 'backer. Norwood projects as a outside linebacker in a 3-4 NFL defense or perhaps a defensive end in a 4-3. He lined up at DE several times for the Gamecocks despite playing primarily as an OLB. He is a bit undersized at 6'1' and 252 pounds so a firs-round selection is unlikely, but he will almost certainly be off the board prior to the end of round two.