Scouting Profile: Omarr Norman-Lott - IDL - Tennessee
Sales Pitch: Undersized rusher with elite short area quickness. Scheme and alignment specific player who will bring juice to a pass rush rotation.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Omarr Norman-Lott is a former 4-Star recruit from the state of California. He spent his first three seasons of college ball at Arizona State, before transferring to Tennessee for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Norman-Lott was primarily a rotational rusher for the Volunteers, only starting 4 games in his career.
Norman-Lott is an explosive lineman with elite short area quickness and good arm length. Despite a limited snap count, he was extremely productive in 2024 ranking in the Top-20 in sacks and hits, with the best qualifying pass rush win rate (18.9%) of any interior lineman in the country. Norman-Lott’s entire game is built around speed. He is lighting fast out of the blocks with the speed to quickly blow by the shoulder of interior linemen. He displays active hands and feet to keep his frame clean, and his motor never stops working. Norman-Lott is an instinctual rusher who is quick to disengage and close down scramble lanes to clean up sacks. His closing speed and length make it difficult for escaping quarterbacks to get away. Norman-Lott doesn’t have the frame to be an impact run defender but he certainly give it his all. He explodes out of his stance to get quick backfield penetration. He weaponizes long arms and excellent natural leverage to get under blockers pads and lock them out. His hands are quick to stun and shed blocks and fill his gap. Norman-Lott displays the agility to match angles on move blocks and the athleticism and effort to chase down ball carries from the backside.
Norman-Lott is very small for an interior defensive lineman with height and weight measurables checking in under the 20th percentile. He lacks the mass to generate power in his game and noticeably lacks pocket pushing ability as a pass rusher. He also can be ridden off his rush path with relative ease by linemen who can match his first step. Norman-Lott’s lack of play strength mostly shows up as a run defender. He struggles to hold his ground versus first contact on vertical blocks right at his chest. If his pads ever get even with a blocker he is easily washed out of the play. Norman-Lott is a very scheme specific player who only really fits in single gap even fronts at a 3T as a result. This biggest question mark for him, is how much of a role can he play at the next level? He has only logged over 300 snaps once in a season, and failed to play more than 30 snaps in any game in 2024. His relentless effort and quickness are amazing, but if he cannot hold that level over the full course of a game or season his value greatly diminishes.
Norman-Lott profiles as a rotational 3T in an even front scheme. The athletic ability and speed rush profile will find a home, but his lack of size and play-time make it hard to project him into a starter role. Norman-Lott’s pass rush ability should get him selected sometime on Day-2 but his specific skillset won’t be for every team and narrows down the landing spots.