ESPN's Mel Kiper ranks Cowboys CB Jourdan Lewis among top 10 rookies: 'He's sticky in coverage'
FRISCO -- It wasn't long ago that ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper was studying Jourdan Lewis.
The cornerback out of Michigan wasn't yet a Cowboys rookie, Dallas' third-round pick, its quickest 2017 rookie to cement his place in the starting lineup.
Things were still crazy.
"You get poked and prodded every week," Lewis remembered Wednesday after practice. "You've got to go to different coasts, coast to coast in like a matter of two days. It was definitely different.
"I'm just happy I'm done with my draft process. That was too long for me."
Lewis might be done with the draft. But Kiper and draft analysts seizing up 2017 stock aren't done looking at Lewis.
His latest accolade: Cracking Kiper's "Rookie Big Board," where Thursday, the analyst ranked his top 30 players from the 2017 class so far.
Lewis was the only Cowboy to make the list, clocking in at No. 8.
"Lewis had a slow start getting on the field because of a hamstring injury, but I like what I've seen since he missed the season opener," Kiper wrote. "The Cowboys have had injury issues, thrusting Lewis into a role quickly. But he's sticky in coverage and doesn't allow many yards after the catch."
Kiper also said that Lewis -- who has an interception, five pass deflections (three breakups) and 22 tackles already -- is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds but "plays bigger."
(Lewis also can talk a big game, calling out ESPN's Skip Bayless when he attributed Green Bay's winning touchdown against Lewis coverage to the rookie's height.)
Height has nothing to do with it. If you really knew football you would know a back shoulder fade is technique. twitter.com/realskipbayles…
Lewis was Kiper's sixth-ranked cornerback in the class before April's draft. Kiper now ranks Lewis' performance third among rookie corners, after the Bills' Tre'Davious White and the Saints' Marshon Lattimore.
White and Lattimore were both first-round picks, 27 and 11 overall respectively. The Cowboys took Lewis 92nd overall.
And the franchise staff have been happy with what they've seen.
"He's a really, really good athlete," head coach Jason Garrett said. "He's got excellent quickness, balance, change of direction, very good ball skills. He's got instincts for the game. He's got a competitive spirit. He keeps coming back, so just a lot to like about him."
Cowboys veteran safety Byron Jones agreed Wednesday, saying Lewis has been "very impressive" rising to the occasion with a depleted secondary.
"We put him in a lot of tough positions, a lot of man-on-man positions where he's playing against a really good receiver and he's been showing up for the most part, making really good tackles," Jones said of Lewis. "That's one thing that's overlooked as a corner: His tackling ability is very good."
Tackling, Lewis said, isn't optional in Rod Marinelli's scheme. He says corners who don't tackle in Dallas are not going to be on the field. Lewis doesn't care if he's matched on a talented receiver - he's excited to see Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin on Sunday in San Francisco - or charged with stopping the run game, as he's done against Arizona's Adrian Peterson and the Rams' Todd Gurley.
These guys can get the job done, Lewis said, so you "always have to be ready and thinking about what you're doing next, mentally prepared for the next play," Lewis said. "Hone in on my craft, hone in on the little things.
"Coach Marinelli stresses to us all the time: You've got to go up there and pull your skirt down and go tackle."
Doing that got him to the crazy draft process he didn't love, it helped him onto Kiper's draft board initially, and it's continued to propel him to the Cowboys starting lineup and a top-10 ranking in his draft class.
Cowboys fans will be watching where it takes Lewis next.
source: sportsday.dallasnews.com
ESPN's Mel Kiper ranks Cowboys CB Jourdan Lewis among top 10 rookies: 'He's sticky in coverage'
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
9:34:00 AM
Rating:
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
9:34:00 AM
Rating:
