Michigan Football: Jourdan Lewis Should Play Offense Too
There’s no doubt that Jourdan Lewis is Michigan football’s stud cornerback, but he also wants to contribute on offense. I say go for it.
You know Jourdan Lewis. Even if you’re not a Michigan football fan, you at least recognize the name. He spent last season shutting down entire halves of the field as he solidified himself as one of college football’s best cornerbacks.
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After 20 passes defended, a program record, including two interceptions, Lewis could have put his name in the NFL draft and gone on to make a whole lot of money playing professionally. But he didn’t. He decided to stay in school for his final year of eligibility and continue climbing.
That process undoubtedly includes staking his claim as the best cornerback in the country, but we learned on Monday at Big Ten media days that it’s also more than that.
“I’m going to put this out there right now: I want to play (on) offense,” Lewis said Monday during a Q&A session with reporters at Big Ten media days in downtown Chicago. “Wide receiver. I haven’t told coach Harbaugh (yet), but me and (quarterback) John (O’Korn) have been working on some stuff.”
Jourdan Lewis at wide receiver? Sign me up.
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Lewis really got into it playing 7 on 7 this summer, saying he took plenty of reps on the offensive side of the ball. Now he thinks he’s ready to contribute.
Let him.
What do we say every time the discussion of Jabrill Peppers playing both ways comes up? “Let the best players play!” Because we want to see Peppers out there. If we’re saying it then, we should be saying it now.
Lewis is a supreme athlete who presumably has a superior understanding of defensive schemes. Is that not something you’d like your receivers to have?
Let this dude touch the football.
We saw multiple times last season just how elusive he can be with the ball in his hands once the staff allowed him to start returning kickoffs. He’s a player that you work around.
If you agree with everything so far, but still say Lewis shouldn’t be playing on offense this season, it’s probably for one of two reasons.
- What if he gets hurt?!
- Michigan doesn’t really need help at receiver.
What if he gets hurt? Seriously? That’s the most common rebuttal to two-way players, but it just doesn’t pan out. Injuries are part of the game, and they’re not so frequent that you should drastically limit what roles players are filling.
Had he gotten hurt just playing corner last season, would you have retroactively begged Jim Harbaugh to limit the number of snaps he sees? Of course not.
Even if this works out for Lewis and he gets to join the offense as well, he’s not becoming an every-down receiver. Think of what Peppers did last season, only maybe a little more because he wouldn’t touch the ball as often.
As for Michigan not needing help at wide receiver, it might be true, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying to improve and innovate. Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh could be very special wideouts this season, but last I checked, three weapons is still better than two.
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The Wolverines are in position to put some of college football’s best players all over the field and open up on teams this season. Wouldn’t it be cool to see them actually do that?