Marcedes Lewis (02/2006)

Position:

TE

School:

UCLA

Height:

6' 6"

Weight:

256 lbs.

General Variables:

32 out of 40

Size:

9

Strength:

8

Speed:

7

Athleticism:

8

Position Variables:

16 out of 20

Blocking:

6

Receiving:

10

Positives:

Obviously the first thing you are going to notice about Lewis is his size.  Although a little light, he’s a great target with outstanding hands, and can really stretch out the defense.  Marcedes has excellent leaping abilities, giving him a huge advantage when it comes to going up and getting the ball.  He works hard, and it’s been said that he’s a very coachable young man.  As mentioned, his pass catching ability is second to none.  It’s not very often, if at all, that you will see him drop a ball.  He possesses tremendous focus, and looks the ball all the way into his hands.

Negatives:

To remain a true TE, it wouldn’t hurt for Lewis to gain a few more pounds to be able to handle any heavy duty blocking in the NFL.  His blocking has been one of his biggest knocks up to this point, but I feel he is slowly improving in this area.  With speed being a factor, he needs some help on route running, getting off the line of scrimmage much faster than he has been.

Overall:

Marcedes has just about all the tools he’ll possibly need to be a success at the next level.  If he can improve on his blocking, and add some weight to that frame, he could be an excellent addition for any NFL franchise.  It’s easy to like Lewis a lot.  Two things that help make that impression are his frame and how fluid he’s able to move with it.  I think his pass catching ability will override just about any other deficiency he may have in his game, because most of that can be coached.

Final Word:

ATTITUDE — Lewis is almost too quiet; not unlike Stanford’s Alex Smith from last year’s TE class, he needs to get a more tenacious attitude.  There are times that he could have probably taken a game over, but didn’t.  I’d love to see just a little more Tony Gonzales or Antonio Gates from him, not so much in words, but in deeds.  This is a draft class of tight ends worth watching and it wasn’t too long ago that Lewis was the highest profile name among the group.  He’s seemingly slipped to names such as Vernon Davis, Leonard Pope, and Dominique Byrd.  How this will play out is anyone’s guess.  However, it’s not every year that someone with hands like his is available in the draft.  With route running, and blocking in check, he has everything anyone would look for in a tight end.  So if Marcedes can make the right kind of impression in workouts and particularly through interviews, he’ll be just fine.