Josh Norman, Redskins will face murderer's row of WRs in 2016
It's a good thing the Redskins decided to sign Josh Norman, because they're going to need him this season.
Washington's secondary will be tested early and often in 2016, starting in Week 1 when the Redskins host Antonio Brown and the Steelers on Monday Night Football.
The presence of Norman will be huge for a Redskins secondary that ranked 25th against the pass in 2015.
In Norman, the Redskins are getting a player who led all corners in the league last year by only allowing a 54.0 QB rating on passes thrown in his direction.
Josh Norman had our third highest coverage grade among CBs last year (+16.8) and led all CBs with a passer rating allowed of 54.0.
— Jeff Deeney (@PFF_Jeff) April 20, 2016
Norman will be an instant upgrade for a secondary and will give the Redskins a fighting chance as they navigate through a 2016 schedule that includes some of the NFL's top receivers.
Besides Brown, Norman will also get to face Odell Beckham Jr. twice a year in games that should be must-see TV after what happened between the two players last year.
Back in December, things got ugly after Norman shut Beckham down during the first half of the Panthers game in New York.
Beckham responded by completely unraveling in the third quarter. The Giants receiver was flagged three times for unnecessary roughness, with one of those penalties came after Beckham hit Norman with a direct helmet-to-helmet shot.
Norman also got flagged once for unnecessary roughness during the third-quarter spat.
Beckham's outburst led to a one-game suspension for the receiver.
The two players will renew their rivalry in both Week 3 and Week 17.
Not only will Norman see tough matchups in Week 1 (Brown) and Week 3 (Beckham), but he'll also see Dez Bryant in Week 2.
Norman can't take it easy after that though because he'll also see difficult matchups in Week 5 (Steve Smith), Week 8 (A.J. Green), Week 11 (Jordy Nelson), Week 12 (Dez again), Week 13 (Larry Fitzgerald), Week 16 (Alshon Jeffery) and Week 17 (Beckham).
If Calvin Johnson gets crazy and decides to unretire, Norman would see him in Week 7.
Norman will also get to see Kelvin Benjamin and his former Panthers teammates in Week 15.
Overall, the Redskins have five games against players who finished in the top 10 of receiving yards in 2015.
Those five games don't even include Nelson and Bryant, who were both top-eight receivers in 2014, but didn't do much in 2015 due to injuries.
The bottom line is that the Redskins are going to find out right away if Norman is worth the five-year, $75 million deal they're giving him. If he's not, the cornerback could go down as a classic Dan Snyder blunder that will have Redskins' fans crying in their Albert Haynesworth jerseys.
