Lewis Enjoys Move Back to Corner
8/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The campaign began last August, almost as soon as incoming junior college transfer Ramon Lewis and MSU's new coaching staff laid eyes on each other.
"I just told them I'm a natural corner," Lewis said. "I'm pretty big, I'm pretty big to be a corner, but that's position I like to play. I started in JUCO playing corner, I never played it before, but just guarding somebody, staying on somebody all the time, is what I like to do."
Lewis signed at Montana State as a safety under the previous coaching staff, and performed well at the position in 2007. He registered 26 tackles and a pass breakup last season, but by the time the spring rolled around his efforts to move back to the outside had paid off.
"We needed help at safety more so than corner last fall," said MSU secondary coach Noah Joseph, who joined Rob Ash's first Bobcat staff in June of 2007, "so we couldn't make that move. But in the off-season we went ahead (and moved Lewis to cornerback), because we had some guys coming back that had played safety and we needed help at corner. We went ahead and made that move, and it's turned out to be good."
Lewis has impressed during fall camp. "He really looked good in the secondary (in last Saturday's scrimmage)," Ash said, "and he's played well throughout camp so far. He's fighting hard for that starting position, and he's playing real well right now."
Lewis is a bigger cornerback than the Bobcats have featured in recent times. At 6-2, 205, Lewis brings a physical presence to the position. He also gives the Bobcats an unusual weapon there. "A lot of people want to line up and throw the fade over there," Ash said, "they want to try to attack the perimeter in the run game because there's (usually) a lighter, smaller guy out there. But that's not the case with Ramon."
After never feeling "comfortable playing safety" for the Bobcats last fall, the transition to the corner wasn't one long feel-good situation during spring drills. "The spring was pretty hard," he said. "I didn't feel as quick and fast as I wanted to, I had injuries, but the fall's going good."
Lewis likes the challenge of being locked in coverage with another player. "You have a lot of responsibility," Lewis said of playing corner. "The whole game, if you there are two big passes against you in a game that can lose you the game. I can be a person that locks down the best player on the other team."
After playing "everything, from receiver to defensive tackle" at Southeast High in Macon, Ga., he landed at Butte Junior College in California, where he played cornerback for the first time. It was instant love for Lewis, but he's sure one of his biggest assets, his size, worked against him after meeting the Bobcat staff. "They probably looked at me at first (and thought), no, he's not a corner."
That's not the line of thought in the Bobcat program now. "When you talk about man-to-man skills, he runs good, has pretty good hips, he's turned out to be a good surprise," Joseph said. "Ramon, with his size, is a guy that helps us in goal-line and red-zone situations, and also matching up with those bigger, physical guys. That's the kind of player he is."
Ash has enjoyed Lewis thriving in his current role. "Safety's a lot more complicated, there are a lot more calls, it's a lot more assignment-oriented," he said. "Corner you pretty much just play. We play a lot of cover two, a lot of man, and Ramon thrives on that situation where he can just line up and play and use his athletic ability, which is considerable. A lot of it is because that is where he prefers to play."
"I just told them I'm a natural corner," Lewis said. "I'm pretty big, I'm pretty big to be a corner, but that's position I like to play. I started in JUCO playing corner, I never played it before, but just guarding somebody, staying on somebody all the time, is what I like to do."
Lewis signed at Montana State as a safety under the previous coaching staff, and performed well at the position in 2007. He registered 26 tackles and a pass breakup last season, but by the time the spring rolled around his efforts to move back to the outside had paid off.
"We needed help at safety more so than corner last fall," said MSU secondary coach Noah Joseph, who joined Rob Ash's first Bobcat staff in June of 2007, "so we couldn't make that move. But in the off-season we went ahead (and moved Lewis to cornerback), because we had some guys coming back that had played safety and we needed help at corner. We went ahead and made that move, and it's turned out to be good."
Lewis has impressed during fall camp. "He really looked good in the secondary (in last Saturday's scrimmage)," Ash said, "and he's played well throughout camp so far. He's fighting hard for that starting position, and he's playing real well right now."
Lewis is a bigger cornerback than the Bobcats have featured in recent times. At 6-2, 205, Lewis brings a physical presence to the position. He also gives the Bobcats an unusual weapon there. "A lot of people want to line up and throw the fade over there," Ash said, "they want to try to attack the perimeter in the run game because there's (usually) a lighter, smaller guy out there. But that's not the case with Ramon."
After never feeling "comfortable playing safety" for the Bobcats last fall, the transition to the corner wasn't one long feel-good situation during spring drills. "The spring was pretty hard," he said. "I didn't feel as quick and fast as I wanted to, I had injuries, but the fall's going good."
Lewis likes the challenge of being locked in coverage with another player. "You have a lot of responsibility," Lewis said of playing corner. "The whole game, if you there are two big passes against you in a game that can lose you the game. I can be a person that locks down the best player on the other team."
After playing "everything, from receiver to defensive tackle" at Southeast High in Macon, Ga., he landed at Butte Junior College in California, where he played cornerback for the first time. It was instant love for Lewis, but he's sure one of his biggest assets, his size, worked against him after meeting the Bobcat staff. "They probably looked at me at first (and thought), no, he's not a corner."
That's not the line of thought in the Bobcat program now. "When you talk about man-to-man skills, he runs good, has pretty good hips, he's turned out to be a good surprise," Joseph said. "Ramon, with his size, is a guy that helps us in goal-line and red-zone situations, and also matching up with those bigger, physical guys. That's the kind of player he is."
Ash has enjoyed Lewis thriving in his current role. "Safety's a lot more complicated, there are a lot more calls, it's a lot more assignment-oriented," he said. "Corner you pretty much just play. We play a lot of cover two, a lot of man, and Ramon thrives on that situation where he can just line up and play and use his athletic ability, which is considerable. A lot of it is because that is where he prefers to play."
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, June 10
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
