Roger Lewis goes undrafted

[MarkL]

Additionally if he stuck around another year, the legal troubles would be one more year behind him. Would that have mattered? Would another year of a completely clean record have helped him, or would the past troubles still weigh as much as now? I just do not know.

I do know that a) we sure could have used him another year, b) his route skills would have improved with another year of practicing without the pressure of earning a professional spot, c) he would have personally developed in learning to take instruction from another position coach, and d) his body would be a year older which is a risk in and of itself. I wish him all the best and be it NYG, another NFL team, or hopefully not CFL, he will catch on somewhere I believe.

[Rollo83]

A year from now Lewis wasn't going to be any faster or taller, his stats wouldn't be any better, he wouldn't have any new tape of him running advanced routes, his rape issues wouldn't have disappeared, and his age would be another negative added to his measurables. This was his best shot in the draft, he took it, and if he takes it seriously he'll get to spend the next year getting professional coaching geared solely to making him a better pro while making a cool $100,000 on the practice squad. If he gets lucky in training camp maybe he'll make the active roster and make a half a million. He made the right choice.

Whole heartily agree with this post. If Roger ever had a chance to be drafted or make an NFL roster/practice squad, this is the year. He had nothing left to prove on the field and most likely would have moved his NFL aspirations backwards if he had returned.

Yes, he could of played two more years here and worked towards his degree for free, if that was a priority for him. But, he's a 22 year old kid chasing his dream of playing in the NFL. I can't fault the decision he made. If it doesn't work out in the NFL, I hope he does go back and get his degree. He has his whole life ahead of him to do that.

Right now, chase your dreams Roger and best of luck!

[jpfalcon09]

Best of luck to this who were signed and invited to rookie mini-camps.

Hopefully Lewis can compete and fight for a roster spot, but it's going to be tough. I think his combine performance had more to do with him not being drafted than previous off the field issues.

In the end, I think he and Johnson at the very least get onto practice squads for the season.

[Globetrotter]

Johnson was given a bonus which I think is rare and is used to get people to sign over other teams. I bet he is a practice squader.

[Flipper]

Yep...Each team gets something like 90k to spread around..so if they throw more than a couple of grand at you to sign, that probably means they like you

[slashba33]

I too wish he stayed like any BG fan would. With this group of young receivers, he could have become more of an all-around receiver rather than just a home run hitter. But, with his QB and coach gone, I can't blame him.

Did anyone else think that Alex Huettel might have been picked up in 6/7 round?

[jpfalcon09]

Johnson was given a bonus which I think is rare and is used to get people to sign over other teams. I bet he is a practice squader.

Depends what the Bengals decide to do. They're certainly not going to keep 4 QBs on the roster as they already have Dalton, McCarron and Wenning signed for this year. Practice squad seems to make sense, unless he can unseat Wenning for the 3rd spot but that seems highly unlikely.

[naandre]

b) his route skills would have improved with another year of practicing without the pressure of earning a professional spot,

Would they? I don't get the impression that our offensive game plan is going to dramatically change this year so, he most likely wasn't going to get the chance to practice running the full route tree. Plus, his position coaches would have been more concerned with teaching him how to exploit physically over matched DBs and how to attack Toledo's schemes, then they would be about teaching him skills that will transfer to the pros.

[Falconfreak90]

I would think the unproven QB situation was a big factor.

Agreed. But Knapke isn't an unknown. I hope like hell RL makes the roster.

[Falconfreak90]

Did anyone else think that Alex Huettel might have been picked up in 6/7 round?

I thought he would...played in 55 games at BG and was an All MAC player multiple years.

[Flipper]

If they lined him up in the slot a bit, or motioned him and ran some jet sweeps...eould have displayed a more varied skill set. He could have worked on the physical end of things too. His 40 time at the combine was lackluster ( I know his less accurate pro day hand timed 40's were better) he could have improved his strength too. His bench numbers were low...how are you going to beat press coverage or block downfield in the NFL when your measurable strength numbers are those of a PK

[kdog27]

I would think the unproven QB situation was a big factor.

Agreed. But Knapke isn't an unknown. I hope like hell RL makes the roster.

Right. It's not like him and Knapke had no connection. He had 70+ receptions and 1000+ yards as a freshman.

But whatever the bed is made. I moved on and looking forward to see what some other guys can do.

[Globetrotter]

Johnson was given a bonus which I think is rare and is used to get people to sign over other teams. I bet he is a practice squader.

Depends what the Bengals decide to do. They're certainly not going to keep 4 QBs on the roster as they already have Dalton, McCarron and Wenning signed for this year. Practice squad seems to make sense, unless he can unseat Wenning for the 3rd spot but that seems highly unlikely.

Wenning won't make the roster. They only keep 2 guys. I bet they keep Johnson on the practice squad.

[naandre]

If they lined him up in the slot a bit, or motioned him and ran some jet sweeps...eould have displayed a more varied skill set. He could have worked on the physical end of things too. His 40 time at the combine was lackluster ( I know his less accurate pro day hand timed 40's were better) he could have improved his strength too. His bench numbers were low...how are you going to beat press coverage or block downfield in the NFL when your measurable strength numbers are those of a PK

They might have lined him up in the slot, but they probably weren't going to unless they felt it gave them the best chance to win a game and he still wouldn't be running pro routes.

He could have worked on the physical end for another year here, but two years of training here left him physically lacking. How would things suddenly change for him in the third year? It's not like he's a physically imature 19 year sophmore waiting for a growth spurt. He's much more likely to improve his physicality working full time with a professional trainor.

[Globetrotter]

This offense has very few routes. Same reason that Baylor's Coleman got knocked.