Chidobe Vs J. Lewis

[CAPJ]

Who do you think has the better 1st year and who do you think goes on to have the better Cowboy career?

[Dallas94Ware]

Awuzie will have a solid first year. Lewis will be hit and miss.

 

Awuzie is a Byron Jones clone, honestly. In a less deep draft year for his position, he likely could have went at the bottom of the first. He plays man well with good physicality, and excels in a proactive zone style. You could move him to any spot in the defensive backfield and see him cover well regardless of the assignment, man or zone. He may not become a big playmaker, and may not develop into one of those ball hawking zone players, but he is the kind of solid, all around DBs you certainly want to add to your team when building a secondary. Versatility, physicality, and consistency will be something you will expect week in and week out from him.

 

Lewis is a bit more tricky. He has the skillset of a hawking zone player, with the athletic traits that bode well for jumping routes and making plays. You also see the make up speed that tends to go quite well in press-man, and the lateral burst to be comfortable with him out in the slot. He has a lot more upside for big plays than Awuzie. But there is also less polish to his game. His backpedal is sometimes sloppy, he plays too aggressive and will likely draw too many flags or get caught out of proper position as a result. He also lacks the same instincts as Awuzie. With more work and polish, I'll say Lewis will be much more in the mold of a Champ Bailey, able to play outstanding shut down zone coverage with great turnover potential. But as of right now, he needs too much work for me to think he could have a better season than the much more polished, much more well rounded player in Awuzie.

[flyingmonkey30]

I'll take Lewis if he can get healthy and stay on the field. Love his game. Awuzie might have a tougher time adjusting because I see them moving him around a lot. Lewis should mostly stick at slot CB.

[D82]

I wonder if we will see the team utilize more three safety looks...have Jones, Awuzie and Heath in the backfield given the former two's versatility.

To answer the question:

I see Lewis having more of an immediate impact this season...though that could change depending on what the team decides to do with Nolan Carroll, who's apparently been having a decent camp.

Long-term, I can see Awuzie having a better career with the team. Though that's not a knock on Lewis.

 

[Jlash]

9 hours ago, Desperado82 said:

I wonder if we will see the team utilize more three safety looks...have Jones, Awuzie and Heath in the backfield given the former two's versatility.

To answer the question:

I see Lewis having more of an immediate impact this season...though that could change depending on what the team decides to do with Nolan Carroll, who's apparently been having a decent camp.

Long-term, I can see Awuzie having a better career with the team. Though that's not a knock on Lewis.

 

Is it really a 3 safety look with Awuzie mostly being a CB though?

[D82]

12 minutes ago, Jlash said:

Is it really a 3 safety look with Awuzie mostly being a CB though?

The way I envisioned it was to have Jones, Awuzie and Heath in the backfield with Orlando and Brown at CB. Lee and Jaylon at LB and our usual 4-man front.

[Jlash]

7 minutes ago, Desperado82 said:

The way I envisioned it was to have Jones, Awuzie and Heath in the backfield with Orlando and Brown at CB. Lee and Jaylon at LB and our usual 4-man front.

Oh, alright. It's just semantics at this point I guess. 

[CAPJ]

I could envision using Awuzie as LB/S hybrid role in some packages. We had some success with the 3 down linemen last year.

Maybe something like this

DE: Charlton  DT: Collins DE: Lawrence

LBs: Awuzie, Smith, Lee

CBs: Scandrick, Brown

Slot:Lewis

Safety: Jones and Woods

Tons of flexibility on our end to match up with a variety of options.

 

[plan9misfit]

Lewis is the better cover guy, but Awuzie is the more physical of the two. As much as I hate CBs, I'm happy with the two we selected. In my opinion, if Lewis was 2 inches taller, it would've pushed him into the top of the 2nd round.

[plan9misfit]

10 hours ago, CAPJ said:

I could envision using Awuzie as LB/S hybrid role in some packages. We had some success with the 3 down linemen last year.

Maybe something like this

DE: Charlton  DT: Collins DE: Lawrence

LBs: Awuzie, Smith, Lee

CBs: Scandrick, Brown

Slot:Lewis

Safety: Jones and Woods

Tons of flexibility on our end to match up with a variety of options.

 

I don't see Awuzie playing LB. At all. He's way too small to be a Tampa-2 hybrid OLB/DB. They're typically 225-230 pounds, not 202.

[CAPJ]

15 hours ago, plan9misfit said:

I don't see Awuzie playing LB. At all. He's way too small to be a Tampa-2 hybrid OLB/DB. They're typically 225-230 pounds, not 202.

I'm not talking about on a full time basis. Certain packages in certain situations. 3rd and long, obvious passing downs etc. With Awuzie Smith and Lee they all give you the ability to blitz and cover and could cause problems.

[Texas_OutLaw7]

18 hours ago, plan9misfit said:

Lewis is the better cover guy, but Awuzie is the more physical of the two. As much as I hate CBs, I'm happy with the two we selected. In my opinion, if Lewis was 2 inches taller, it would've pushed him into the top of the 2nd round.

Interesting. I figured he would have gone in the top of round 2 had the specter of his court case not loomed over his head.

Lewis has such a high ceiling. 

[Dallas94Ware]

I think the assumption that Awuzie will have trouble making an impact this season because of his contributions at multiple positions makes sense, but I think this allows for the opposite effect.

Being able to contribute from multiple spots should allow for him to make an impact earlier, as he will play different roles. While he may not shine brightly right away, his versatility will allow more opportunities to make bigger plays or contribute more to the defensive unit. 

 

As for the LB/S role, he is not the tackler you want playing that role. He is sound in that area, but I'm not lining him up in a spot where he can be crushed by a bigger, stronger player at Rb. He's not a "hunter" or "robber" like we saw from Church. He is more the hold-ground prevent-big-plays kind of player, both in coverage and as a run stopper. A player you want in that role we see from guys like Mathieu and Church and the like need to be more aggressive, assertive tackles capable of bringing down those bigger players. Awuzie is a big DB, but he doesn't have that strength or pop you want from that role.