Marcedes Lewis is taken for granted
by Adam Stites on Dec 3, 2008 2:08 PM EST
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Day after day I have read countless posts that talk about Marcedes Lewis’s inability to catch the ball. It is simply not true and every fan needs to open their eyes to how good of a tight end we truly have.
First off, a tight end is not just another receiver on the field, they are also responsible for helping run block. Marcedes has proven himself to be a spectacular blocker in the NFL, high above the expectations that were placed on him after being drafted. Many tight ends in the NFL have little no role besides blocking, so right off the bat all Jaguar fans should be grateful for the blocking ability he provides
Then there are the drops that everyone talks about. Well I’d like to tell you guys that he happens to have one of the best, if not the best set of hands on the team. Week after week Marcedes makes spectacular catches that are somehow taken for granted by the fans. Just this Monday he made a excellent catch of his toes to keep a drive alive. The week before that he made a great catch and managed to keep his knee off the ground and run inside the 10 yard line. The reason he’s getting all the heat from the fans is because of one game. I’ll say it again, one game. On Week 4 against Houston, Marcedes had 3 drops which was enough for Jaguar fans to give up all hope on him. On the season, Lewis has dropped 5 passes which is tied with Matt Jones for the team lead. In the 11 other games of the season he has 2 drops, which sounds to me like a pretty reliable receiver.
The reason that it seems like he has more drops is because the drops that he had all came in one chunk. During that time period it became clear that he was not catching and every fan was able to pick up on that. In Matt Jones’s case, his drops have been spread out over the season and with each catch his previous drop is forgotten.
Marcedes Lewis is an excellent tight end in the NFL and the future ahead of him is bright, all I ask is that others recognize this.
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Yes.
Here here. Good post!
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Another Great thing about Lewis...
Having a dual-threat tight end keeps defenses guessing. If you have to bring in a kyle brady type blocker each time you want to run the ball, defenses will know about it and will adjust accordingly when your big blocking TE comes into the line-up. With Lewis, we have the ability to run or pass effectively with him in there, which keeps defenses guessing and improves the offense’s ability to catch the defense off-guard. He has been a scape-goat this season and I’m very pleased with the Job Mike Tice has done in turning him into a serious blocker.
-Collin
Yes, thank you!
He’s a good all-around tight end. Thank you for the stats on the drops. I’ll add that he’s 3rd on the team in receiving yards with 384, and he’s tied with Reggie for 3rd most receptions on the team with 28. No, those aren’t great numbers, but he does have 13.7 yd/rec average (really good for a tight end) which is the most on the team after Jerry Porter, who’s at 15.4 with only 10 catches. Lewis also has 2 TDs, which isn’t bad considering we only have 10 as a team and only Reggie has more with 3.
The tight end position has been changing in the NFL. Teams are looking for a big, tall, fast athlete with great hands to play the position, and be a big offensive force. Because of this change, there are a lot of tight ends who are big receivers, but can’t block as well as a traditional tight end. We are lucky to have a guy like Marcedes who can do both. Like silencecs pointed out, this keeps teams guessing and…well, just read what he wrote.
Marcedes, to me, has been a bright spot on this team, and the fact that people are complaining about him is another reminder of how bad this season has been.
Yessss!
haha again, I could say the same stuff as all of you, but I’ll save my time. Marcedes is up and coming into a top 5 TE. Really, I think so. Great hands and is absolutley great at the long seam route up middle.
I wonder what his role will be with G. Wrighster back...
George is still a superior blocker, but he’s not nearly the route runner that Marcedes is… It will be interesting to see if Lewis can hold onto the starting spot even with his mentor back in the fold.
I love sunny skies.
But really? A top 5? Better than Heath Miller, Owen Daniels, Alex Gonzalez, Todd Heap, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen WInslow, Dallas Clark…the list goes on. Take of the rose-colored glasses dude. This guy moves awkwardly downfield and has dropped passes that blasted him in the hands. We must be realistic if the Jaguars problem is to be fixed. None of the Jags’ receivers catch the ball with fluidity (except maybe Northcutt.) And that is sad fact. If I were to glance at the stats, and players available, Lewis would not even be in the top 20 tight ends in the league. Does he look coordinated to you? Yes, is an impossible answer to this question.
Unfortunately, the truth only comes out game-by-game.
I find this comment kind of funny actually
Fluidity is the problem with the Jaguar receivers? I’d say the problem is that none of them are ever open. I will agree with you, Marcedes does run awkwardly, but he’s not off balance and it hasn’t been a problem for him receiving. In fact the way he runs, in my opinion, has helped him make plays in the passing game. Just a few weeks ago it looked to the defense like he was down, but he kept both knees off the ground because of the way he runs.
You talk about him dropping passes that blast him in the hands. Can you cite an example of this because I’m just not seeing it. If you say Week 4 against Houston then I’d understand because that was the only week that he was dropping passes. Since then, he’s been catching everything.
The list of tight ends you gave are exactly why Marcedes is taken for granted. Everyone expects tight ends to be exactly what those guys are, receivers. Did you think about any of those players’ blocking abilities when you compiled that list? Yes, is an impossible answer to this question. (By the way, I think you were talking about Tony Gonzalez, Alex Gonzalez plays baseball)
You can't overstate the importance of being a dual-threat...
That’s why the Jags are so in love with him. He came into the league not being a great blocker, but Mike Tice’s tutelage has helped him immensely.
uhhh...
Winslow and Shockey? haha bro they are past their hayday. Show me some more names with credibilty, not wash ups and troublemakers, and as I said before, Lewis is still improving.
by harveyismyboy on Dec 5, 2008 3:41 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, and did you really say...
“Does he look coordinated to you? Yes, is an impossible answer to this question.” WHAT?! How can you possibly say that about any player in the NFL, or in any professional sport for that matter? That might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read!
The only guys that he gave that are dual threats were...
Heath Miller (who we wanted to draft anyohow), and Todd Heap. Everyone else is just a big receiver. And some of them are’t even that big. People want to complain about chemistry and yet you still want to bring up guys like Winslow and Shockey. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Marcedes is actually outperforming Shockey. He’s a bigger play threat now, he’s getting more YAC, and he has fewer drops.
Todd Heap is a good player, but he’s even struggling statistically when he doesn’t get thrown to.
Lets put it this way, of all those players you’ve named, Marcedes has got the most upside. And he probably fits a “run first” team best with the exception of maybe Heap who can’t stay healthy anyhow.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that he plays big in big games. The Steelers game this year, the Patriots game last year. In fact whenever we have a though match up I generally start Lewis on my fantasy team and it usually works out. He’s like the Jags seceret weapon. People still don’t bother putting anyone on him other than a LB, which works in our favor.
To me it looks like he is still improving a lot. Don’t forget, he’s also the receiver with the biggest plays on our team.
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