Ryan Lewis, NFL Prospect?

[JoseLind13]

I can't say that I ever expected to see this headline during much of last season... good for him.

http://triblive.com/sports/kevingorman/12105277-74/gorman-in-a-flash-pitts-lewis-on-nfl-radar

 

[President Stache]

He is now... 4.32 40 time... and good size.

He also has some tape, including a play that will live forever in Pitt lore. So, despite his rough times last season (and to be honest, it was the first time the guy ever played.) I wish him well, and at least with this 40 time, he will get into someone's camp.

 

[joeydavid]

He probably would have been a better FS than CB at Pitt but they didn't have other options at CB. I'm guessing a switch to FS is in his future.

 

[melwood]

He'll get a shot. Probably be a beast on special teams for a while, maybe get a cup of coffee in the secondary of a good team someday.

 

[ksquared33]

This kid is a classic example of people needing to keep an open mind about players & not go so caught up w/ H.S. star ratings , etc.
So many of these players are still developing, learning, working hard to develop their skill set's while their God-given abilities continue to develop as well.
Not only do many kid's develop at the end of H.S. beginning of college but they also develop thru out college & graduation.
Anthony Dorsett , Tony's son was another kid who really developed his game & talent by working hard thru out his time at Pitt. And he ended up earning a NFL pension.

H2 PITT !!!
p.s. Dorsett Jr. came into Pitt as little more than a gift salute to his legendary father. Although the kid had very good speed coming out of H.S. but little else.

 

[PhPanther1]

CFL

 

[Pittx9]

Honestly with his speed, I'd think most teams would consider his sometimes lack of coverage skills something they can work on. Like they say, you can't teach speed. He's definitely going to get a chance somewhere, whether it be through the draft or an undrafted free agent. He'll be in camp with someone, and get a pretty good look during the preseason.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

4.32 + Size + Good Wonderlic = NFL shot

Honestly with his speed, I'd think most teams would consider his sometimes lack of coverage skills something they can work on. Like they say, you can't teach speed. He's definitely going to get a chance somewhere, whether it be through the draft or an undrafted free agent. He'll be in camp with someone, and get a pretty good look during the preseason.

 

[USN_Panther]

He is now... 4.32 40 time... and good size.

He also has some tape, including a play that will live forever in Pitt lore. So, despite his rough times last season (and to be honest, it was the first time the guy ever played.) I wish him well, and at least with this 40 time, he will get into someone's camp.

Makes me think that Pitt should have been able to use him more effectively during his 4 years of eligibility. This is the player development side of coaching. Not a knock on Narduzzi, he got Lewis on the field. What did the Chryst staff do with him for the other three years?

 

[ksquared33]

The Chryst staff recruited him into the Pitt program. Maybe they did not handle developing him correctly even though they only had him for a limited time.
But if that is the way we project the effectiveness of coaching staff's then the Chryst Staff deserves immense credit for Aaron Donald's meteoric rise once they took over.
It's just not so easy or fair to be so simplistic in awarding or critiquing a staff based on so little evidence. Sounds like Lewis just grew up a whole lot like AD did because they were tough, hard working, focused individuals who refused to stay pat w/ their craft.
Maybe the Chryst staff did miss something w/ Lewis but based on that so did almost our most vocal members on this sight. It's funny how many people are now coming out of the woodwork to sing Ryan's praises. I mean I do not remember anyone on this site proclaiming that Ryan Lewis was a diamond in the rough who had world class speed yet were baffled why the Narduzzi staff could not make him a better player since the kid had major NFL potential..? Now all of a sudden it was the Narduzzi staff who developed him beyond what the Chryst Staff did(they also had Lewis at his most mature time).....can we just stop w/ trying to rewrite the history of Pitt football.

H2 PITT !!!

 

[OhioPittFan]

In hindsight probably should've been moved to safety over Webb with that size and speed.

 

[chethejet]

Lafayette Pitts made the Dolphins, anything is possible. Actually I thought Pitts had a pretty good senior season. Lewis ball skills simply never came to the party. He had a couple good moments but his consistency in making the positive play was lacking. In a weak defense of him, he went up against a number of WR's and QB's who were very good. May are or will be number one or two picks in the NFL draft.

 

[Panther_in_Kentucky]

In hindsight probably should've been moved to safety over Webb with that size and speed.

Ah, but you see Terrish Webb was permitted to stink it up as a safety for a few years as Narduzzi was recruiting the miniature Leslie Mann. How'd that work out?

At least HCPN has finally seen the light and is abandoning the WPIAL pretend players for real ones from Florida.

 

[noelr]

if it were just speed, thr nfl would.be full of college sprinters. lewis seems like a great kid but showed zero football skills except for those two wideopen pics

 

[ksquared33]

if it were just speed, thr nfl would.be full of college sprinters. lewis seems like a great kid but showed zero football skills except for those two wideopen pics

You cannot be serious w/ trying to sum up this kid's entire college career based on 2 extremely consequential Int's. I know Ryan Lewis contributed much more for this program & their 8 win's this past year than just 2 Int's.
It's either a kid is All American potential or he is of no consequence. Why is it some cannot accept that most players are never going to be highlight tape performers. Ryan Lewis had himself a very successful career as a Pitt Panther considering all the coaching changes he & his teammates had to contend with....Most kids never see half of the pt that Ryan Lewis saw let alone going to 4 straight Bowl games as a 4 year lettermen.
He did not get onto the field out of charity. How about a little respect be shown. He was much more athlete than just speed. It's very hard & competitive to play at any college level let alone high level P5 teams.

H2 PITT !!!

 

[h2p_5150]

A hand-timed 4.32 40 is more like a 4.56 in reality. This is why you see so many high school prospects running sub-4.4 40s that wind up testing slower than that at the combine a few years later. Still a pretty solid time for Lewis, but not nearly as impressive as running a true 4.3 40

 

[noelr]

You cannot be serious w/ trying to sum up this kid's entire college career based on 2 extremely consequential Int's. I know Ryan Lewis contributed much more for this program & their 8 win's this past year than just 2 Int's.
It's either a kid is All American potential or he is of no consequence. Why is it some cannot accept that most players are never going to be highlight tape performers. Ryan Lewis had himself a very successful career as a Pitt Panther considering all the coaching changes he & his teammates had to contend with....Most kids never see half of the pt that Ryan Lewis saw let alone going to 4 straight Bowl games as a 4 year lettermen.
He did not get onto the field out of charity. How about a little respect be shown. He was much more athlete than just speed. It's very hard & competitive to play at any college level let alone high level P5 teams.

H2 PITT !!!

ok. he wasnt very good but gave his all.

 

[ksquared33]

ok. he wasnt very good but gave his all.

Once again I feel the need to question your opinion of "not very good" when this kid lettered 4 years & his teams made 4 Bowl games w/ a over 500% record in that time.
This kid is going to get invited to a NFL camp..... I think most football people would acknowledge that qualifies as being a good ballplayer.
I would suggest maybe you are not the person capable of determining what qualifies a player as being good or not.
Might I suggest that a player that comes into a school & never earns PT or a single football letter as not being a good college player. I could go along w/ that much more than a kid who earns 4 letters despite his team being 0-12 or 12-0.
I find it funny how people find themselves to be such hard evaluators from afar as if they had the track record & history to have lived up to their unreasonable credentials themselves.


H2 PITT !!!

 

[Jpripper88]

Once again I feel the need to question your opinion of "not very good" when this kid lettered 4 years & his teams made 4 Bowl games w/ a over 500% record in that time.
This kid is going to get invited to a NFL camp..... I think most football people would acknowledge that qualifies as being a good ballplayer.
I would suggest maybe you are not the person capable of determining what qualifies a player as being good or not.
Might I suggest that a player that comes into a school & never earns PT or a single football letter as not being a good college player. I could go along w/ that much more than a kid who earns 4 letters despite his team being 0-12 or 12-0.
I find it funny how people find themselves to be such hard evaluators from afar as if they had the track record & history to have lived up to their unreasonable credentials themselves.


H2 PITT !!!

So, do you have a breakdown of how Pitt fans can talk about Pitt (and college football) and delineate the difference in players and their contributions? Is "average" for guys who never start a game, but play as a backup? "Good" is for guys like Lewis, who play, but are obviously deficiencies for their teams? "Great" is for someone who isn't a deficiency, but their play doesn't stand out?

FYI, essentially every scholarship player earns a letter any year they aren't redshirting. It is still impressive to be a FBS scholarship football player, but there are clear differences in players. You don't need to handle discussion about them with white gloves for fear of hurting their feelings.