Lewis at Combine

[gspointer]

Just too much negativity here . The combine is not the be all - end all. Just let the kid get drafted and let it play out on the field. FWIW he did not get out of the block well on his fasted run.

[gspointer]

Just FYI that we had scouts from 26 NFL teams at our Pro Day last year and considering the "draftable" players expected to take part in our Pro Day this year, I would be surprised if that number dipped.

Wow, I stand corrected. Didn't think we'd get that sort of showing at our products days. Did we have anybody at the combine last year? Lewis was our only guy there this year.

As for the other conversation I get what flipper is saying and agree with him. On the field at bg the two were vastly different players. As NFL prospects though they are not dissimilar. Similar size, similar speed, production at bg that will be mostly deemed as due to the system.

And Barnes was a more developed player with a much wider variety of routes. The advantage Lewis has always had is that he is a big play threat compared to Freddie who wasn't...but he is not an NFL big ah threat and probably never will be. Doesn't win 50/50 balls, is ho hum size, and ho hum speed.

If he wasn't a falcon he wouldn't be on my draft radar at any round as a browns fan...as a falcon I hope he goes somewhere and plays well but I honestly don't think he's a lock to get drafted with that speed/size combo.

Exactly the reason you should not speak with no first hand knowledge- you are just blowing negative crap here.

[hammb]

Just FYI that we had scouts from 26 NFL teams at our Pro Day last year and considering the "draftable" players expected to take part in our Pro Day this year, I would be surprised if that number dipped.

Wow, I stand corrected. Didn't think we'd get that sort of showing at our products days. Did we have anybody at the combine last year? Lewis was our only guy there this year.

As for the other conversation I get what flipper is saying and agree with him. On the field at bg the two were vastly different players. As NFL prospects though they are not dissimilar. Similar size, similar speed, production at bg that will be mostly deemed as due to the system.

And Barnes was a more developed player with a much wider variety of routes. The advantage Lewis has always had is that he is a big play threat compared to Freddie who wasn't...but he is not an NFL big ah threat and probably never will be. Doesn't win 50/50 balls, is ho hum size, and ho hum speed.

If he wasn't a falcon he wouldn't be on my draft radar at any round as a browns fan...as a falcon I hope he goes somewhere and plays well but I honestly don't think he's a lock to get drafted with that speed/size combo.

Exactly the reason you should not speak with no first hand knowledge- you are just blowing negative crap here.

Yeah I was being hyperbolic about our pro day but I'll stand behind my opinions on Lewis as a prospect.

I think he made a huge mistake leaving early.

[Globetrotter]

Just FYI that we had scouts from 26 NFL teams at our Pro Day last year and considering the "draftable" players expected to take part in our Pro Day this year, I would be surprised if that number dipped.

Wow, I stand corrected. Didn't think we'd get that sort of showing at our products days. Did we have anybody at the combine last year? Lewis was our only guy there this year.

As for the other conversation I get what flipper is saying and agree with him. On the field at bg the two were vastly different players. As NFL prospects though they are not dissimilar. Similar size, similar speed, production at bg that will be mostly deemed as due to the system.

And Barnes was a more developed player with a much wider variety of routes. The advantage Lewis has always had is that he is a big play threat compared to Freddie who wasn't...but he is not an NFL big ah threat and probably never will be. Doesn't win 50/50 balls, is ho hum size, and ho hum speed.

If he wasn't a falcon he wouldn't be on my draft radar at any round as a browns fan...as a falcon I hope he goes somewhere and plays well but I honestly don't think he's a lock to get drafted with that speed/size combo.

Exactly the reason you should not speak with no first hand knowledge- you are just blowing negative crap here.

Yeah I was being hyperbolic about our pro day but I'll stand behind my opinions on Lewis as a prospect.

I think he made a huge mistake leaving early.

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. I think he will go 4-5 rounds. Get into a 4-6 spot on a team, cover kicks, catch about 15-189-2 on the year and eventually be a #2 receiver in the league. He is very talented.

[Flipper]

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/rog ... id=2555472" target="_blank

[hammb]

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. .

That is where we'll never agree, and what the entire conversation boils down to. Sure, if you are working with the premise that he couldn't get better while playing for BG then it makes sense to leave now and get a shot with professional coaching.

I see absolutely NO reason why he could not get better while playing at BG. If he wanted to. The coaches used him the last 2 years in a way to maximize his effectiveness, but there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have gone to the coach Jinks and said I wanna learn to run more routes to make me a more effective weapon. I don't for a second believe that the new staff (or the old) would tell him no he's only a 2 route WR. He would have been a lot more valuable in our system by learning to do more, just as he would/will be to the NFL.

If he has the work ethic and drive to get better and improve he could improve at BG. And doing so would position him better for his career. Many, if not most, players only get 1 real shot at the NFL. It behooves the player to take that shot when he's best equipped to stick the first time. For every guy we hear about bouncing around camp to camp to the CFL or whatever before finally making it there are countless others who are cast aside from a couple training camps and are never really given a legit shot.

[jpfalcon09]

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. .

That is where we'll never agree, and what the entire conversation boils down to. Sure, if you are working with the premise that he couldn't get better while playing for BG then it makes sense to leave now and get a shot with professional coaching.

I see absolutely NO reason why he could not get better while playing at BG. If he wanted to. The coaches used him the last 2 years in a way to maximize his effectiveness, but there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have gone to the coach Jinks and said I wanna learn to run more routes to make me a more effective weapon. I don't for a second believe that the new staff (or the old) would tell him no he's only a 2 route WR. He would have been a lot more valuable in our system by learning to do more, just as he would/will be to the NFL.

If he has the work ethic and drive to get better and improve he could improve at BG. And doing so would position him better for his career. Many, if not most, players only get 1 real shot at the NFL. It behooves the player to take that shot when he's best equipped to stick the first time. For every guy we hear about bouncing around camp to camp to the CFL or whatever before finally making it there are countless others who are cast aside from a couple training camps and are never really given a legit shot.

+1.

I look at guys like Corey Davis who plays in the MAC and could've easily gone to the draft this year but chose to return for his senior year. Lewis could have easily stayed and learned new things from the Jinks staff and perhaps improved his game. He got guilty of looking at his stats and figured he could parlay that into getting a shot in the NFL. The fact is that Babers and Co. maximized his abilities in a gimmicky offense which played to his strengths and hid his weaknesses, for the most part. Lewis did have a few games this year where he disappeared against better talent, a red flag for many scouts for a MAC-level player.

I'm not trying to paint Lewis in a negative light, but I think he made a poor choice for his future. Yes he's 22 and he likely didn't want to wait until he was 24 to get a shot at the NFL, but being able to at least graduate with a degree would have set him up with many more opportunities had professional football not worked out. I fear he's going to be just another very good college player who saw the bright lights and couldn't resist the urge to follow it.

He'll get a shot in a pro camp this summer but I'd be highly surprised if he sticks around after the preseason.

[Globetrotter]

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. .

That is where we'll never agree, and what the entire conversation boils down to. Sure, if you are working with the premise that he couldn't get better while playing for BG then it makes sense to leave now and get a shot with professional coaching.

I see absolutely NO reason why he could not get better while playing at BG. If he wanted to. The coaches used him the last 2 years in a way to maximize his effectiveness, but there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have gone to the coach Jinks and said I wanna learn to run more routes to make me a more effective weapon. I don't for a second believe that the new staff (or the old) would tell him no he's only a 2 route WR. He would have been a lot more valuable in our system by learning to do more, just as he would/will be to the NFL.

If he has the work ethic and drive to get better and improve he could improve at BG. And doing so would position him better for his career. Many, if not most, players only get 1 real shot at the NFL. It behooves the player to take that shot when he's best equipped to stick the first time. For every guy we hear about bouncing around camp to camp to the CFL or whatever before finally making it there are countless others who are cast aside from a couple training camps and are never really given a legit shot.

This is ignoring the goal of college football. It's not there for Roger Lewis to gain skills in football. It's there for Roger Lewis to help BG win football games.

The other part that people are ignoring is that he did his job this year pretty much better then everyone else in the league. He didn't catch 86 go routes.

Also, a tape that doesn't show him doing something, doesn't show he can't do it. If he wasn't asked to do something and was terrible at it that's a totally different story. He can project higher.

I respect your opinion here but he is just too talented to not go high in a league that is desperate for WRs and where he ran about average.

[Redwingtom]

Fwiw, Ezekiel Elliott of Ohio State ran a 4.4 today at the combine. The fastest of the RB

Not quite sure why you posted this in the Roger Lewis thread about a wide receiver from Bowling Green, but for the record there were several running backs with better times than Elliott.

The fastest was Keith Marshall of Georgia at 4.31.

[kdog27]

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. .

That is where we'll never agree, and what the entire conversation boils down to. Sure, if you are working with the premise that he couldn't get better while playing for BG then it makes sense to leave now and get a shot with professional coaching.

I see absolutely NO reason why he could not get better while playing at BG. If he wanted to. The coaches used him the last 2 years in a way to maximize his effectiveness, but there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have gone to the coach Jinks and said I wanna learn to run more routes to make me a more effective weapon. I don't for a second believe that the new staff (or the old) would tell him no he's only a 2 route WR. He would have been a lot more valuable in our system by learning to do more, just as he would/will be to the NFL.

If he has the work ethic and drive to get better and improve he could improve at BG. And doing so would position him better for his career. Many, if not most, players only get 1 real shot at the NFL. It behooves the player to take that shot when he's best equipped to stick the first time. For every guy we hear about bouncing around camp to camp to the CFL or whatever before finally making it there are countless others who are cast aside from a couple training camps and are never really given a legit shot.

This is ignoring the goal of college football. It's not there for Roger Lewis to gain skills in football. It's there for Roger Lewis to help BG win football games.

The other part that people are ignoring is that he did his job this year pretty much better then everyone else in the league. He didn't catch 86 go routes.

Also, a tape that doesn't show him doing something, doesn't show he can't do it. If he wasn't asked to do something and was terrible at it that's a totally different story. He can project higher.

I respect your opinion here but he is just too talented to not go high in a league that is desperate for WRs and where he ran about average.

You're also ignoring that we was a significantly improver player from 2014 to 2015. Not just talking numbers either. He was clearly more polished so why is it impossible to not improve again?

[hammb]

There just is no reasonable argument for not leaving early. Even if he ended up in Canada for a few years, he isn't improving in a BG uniform. .

That is where we'll never agree, and what the entire conversation boils down to. Sure, if you are working with the premise that he couldn't get better while playing for BG then it makes sense to leave now and get a shot with professional coaching.

I see absolutely NO reason why he could not get better while playing at BG. If he wanted to. The coaches used him the last 2 years in a way to maximize his effectiveness, but there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't have gone to the coach Jinks and said I wanna learn to run more routes to make me a more effective weapon. I don't for a second believe that the new staff (or the old) would tell him no he's only a 2 route WR. He would have been a lot more valuable in our system by learning to do more, just as he would/will be to the NFL.

If he has the work ethic and drive to get better and improve he could improve at BG. And doing so would position him better for his career. Many, if not most, players only get 1 real shot at the NFL. It behooves the player to take that shot when he's best equipped to stick the first time. For every guy we hear about bouncing around camp to camp to the CFL or whatever before finally making it there are countless others who are cast aside from a couple training camps and are never really given a legit shot.

This is ignoring the goal of college football. It's not there for Roger Lewis to gain skills in football. It's there for Roger Lewis to help BG win football games.

The other part that people are ignoring is that he did his job this year pretty much better then everyone else in the league. He didn't catch 86 go routes.

Also, a tape that doesn't show him doing something, doesn't show he can't do it. If he wasn't asked to do something and was terrible at it that's a totally different story. He can project higher.

I respect your opinion here but he is just too talented to not go high in a league that is desperate for WRs and where he ran about average.

I fully support your first statement and talk about it all the time in draft eval. The goal of the BG coaches/players is to win more games in BG, not prepare players for the next level. In this case though I don't think the two are diametrically opposed. If Roger learned to run a more complete route tree it would help BG win more games. This isn't the case of having a QB as a dropback guy -vs- shotgun where the 2 goals are so different.

And I am not saying Roger CAN'T do those things. But he didn't run any of the agility drills at the combine (anybody know why?). And the film just doesn't SHOW him doing those things. To my first point I find it hard to believe Babers would not have had him running more varied routes if he COULD run them, and run them well. That link you showed did have him running a drag across the middle and he half-assed the route and was not an available target. I do remember him running a slant/skinny post on the first UT game and he got caught looking at the safety and let the ball doink off his helmet for a pick.

The bottom line to me is that Roger becoming a more well rounded WR would have helped BG, so I do believe had he desired to stay here and add skills he would have been afforded that opportunity. I think if he had come back for one more year and put a more varied route tree on tape he would have been much better positioned for the draft in '17 than he is in '16. I think he does have talent, enough talent that if he added some polish to his game he could get drafted in those mid rounds where you expect him to go this year. With his limited tape I don't think he gets taken that high this year and I fear he could be one of those types that is too raw to stick in the NFL.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope he gets taken as high as possible and I hope he earns a roster spot and gets to play on Sundays. I want nothing more than to see BG players do well in the NFL. I'm just not convinced that he made the best decision for his long term future. I had hopes that when he declared he knew he was going to put up a great time to back up his film...he didn't. I'm hoping for the best, but am worried. I cannot help but remember the last time we had a player leave early he got drafted, couldn't make a team, and was never given another shot at it...

[Flipper]

Roger Lewis has demonstrated that he can run go routes and screens against MAC CB's. His measurable are pedestrian to sub pedestrian. He ran an average 40 time in a year of slow WR's...the slowest in five years. He had significant legal issues in HS. These are facts.

How some of you think that resume is going to get him drafted at all...let alone in the first four rounds...is beyond me. He should have stayed and worked with the staff on getting stronger, quicker and more accomplished running varied routes. He's going to have a steeper learning curve than he might have had he waited a year. Given his lack of standout measurables......I'm baffled at his decision to leave.

[hammb]

Roger Lewis has demonstrated that he can run go routes and screens against MAC CB's. His measurable are pedestrian to sub pedestrian. He ran an average 40 time in a year of slow WR's...the slowest in five years. He had significant legal issues in HS. These are facts.

How some of you think that resume is going to get him drafted at all...let alone in the first four rounds...is beyond me. He should have stayed and worked with the staff on getting stronger, quicker and more accomplished running varied routes. He's going to have a steeper learning curve than he might have had he waited a year. Given his lack of standout measurables......I'm baffled at his decision to leave.

I'm in agreement.

CBS Sports agrees with Globe. Updated rankings after the combine they've got him as #17 WR and a 3-4 round prospect. I'll just say if he is truly the #17 WR I'd be real hard pressed to see him in the top 100 picks, because this WR class sucks. There isn't a wideout I"d take in the top 15-20 picks, and I can't see taking 17 of them in the top 100. Still, if he's the 17th WR he'll be taken, and higher than I'd expect.

ESPN Insider/Scouts Inc. agrees with Flip. They have him graded as the 207th player in the draft, which would project to the very late rounds.

I'll be curious to see where things are looking when Kiper, McShay, etc publish their post-combine prospect rankings.

[CBD2032]

For people saying he should have stayed,

He is already 22 years old, will be 23 before the end of next season. That already makes him one of the older WRs in the draft. Next year he would be the oldest in the class and teams may wonder how many "prime" years they can get out of him, hurting his stock. No, 23 is not old, but for a guy who went against weaker competition than the high profile players, on average, that extra year to develop on an NFL roster could be huge.

[Flipper]

If you're ill-prepared to compete for a spot, you probably aren't going to get that year on a roster to develop.