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According to NBC Sports’ Peter King’s recent ‘Football Morning in America’ article, the Indianapolis Colts are among the teams that have met remotely with Alabama edge Terrell Lewis ahead of the NFL Draft:
“I’ve been mostly using Zoom to have meetings with some teams. Green Bay, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Tennessee, Detroit,” Lewis said.
“That’s been completely weird. I talked to one team with my shirt off, looking kind of rough. I need a haircut. Today, I talked to coach [Matt] Patricia and the staff with the Lions. On those calls, we talk ball, their scheme, watch film, talk about my upbringing, my journey at Alabama, how I fit in their team, what I’m doing with my money to make sure I take care of it. We get to know each other a little bit. I want to make them feel comfortable with me as a person.”
The 6’5”, 262 pound redshirt junior edge recorded 31 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, 16 quarterback hurries, 2 passes defensed, and a fumble recovery during 11 starts in 2019—earning 2nd-Team All-SEC honors.
Lewis posted a 37.0 inch vertical and 124.0 inch broad jump at the NFL Combine.
The former Crimson Tide standout could provide the Colts another young impact pass rusher in time, and the team could arguably use additional defensive end depth with veteran Justin Houston having turned 31 years old and Kemoko Turay coming off a season-ending ankle surgery this past season (with last year’s 2nd round pick Ben Banogu also in the mix).
Lewis had his own significant surgery to repair a torn ACL in 2018 but was healthy last season—before declaring for the NFL Draft a year early.
He has the type of athletic traits that Colts general manager Chris Ballard could really covet—with the hopes of molding him into a future Pro Bowler.
Still, Lewis needs to improve his leverage and get stronger at the point of attack at times. He’s also still a bit raw in his development, having only played in 26 games during his collegiate career.
Here’s what other draft experts are saying on Lewis:
Terrell Lewis, EDGE, Alabama: Obvious athletic flashes, but still gets too deep and a lot of the pass rush wins he gets credit for are when the QB is too deep. He's a lot more projection than people are talking about, with injury history too, but his weigh-in was clutch.
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) January 27, 2020
Terrell Lewis is a really traitsy EDGE prospect. Good first step and the man uses his length really well to win. Converts speed-to-power here and fully extends out. Not the cleanest sack but he gets the job done.
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) April 12, 2020
Lewis is a Day 2 talent who needs work but carries a high reward. pic.twitter.com/5chxKngnAS
There were times Terrell Lewis didn’t play with proper leverage and even got blocked by tight ends, but there were also times he did this..
— Clint Lamb (@ClintRLamb) April 9, 2020
Immediately gets hands on the OT, extends + locks out arms, locates the ball and disengages with ease. Absolutely textbook. pic.twitter.com/DSAgAMk2RJ
All you gotta do to talk yourself into taking a chance on Terrell Lewis is watch the first half vs Arkansas. Six QB pressures, two forced interceptions. Dude is amazing.
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) April 12, 2020
Nasty spin move, speed-to-power (with insane get off), inside counter/arm over, wrecker on stunts. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/KOrSYcW3QN
Lewis might make some sense for the Colts with the 44th overall pick (second round) or perhaps the 75th overall pick (third round)—if he slides.
Ballard has consistently preached his belief that the Colts have to get stronger in the trenches since his arrival in 2017—and Lewis would be another nice long-term addition—as a defense can never have enough impact pass rushers in today’s passing game.