TE Mitchell Lewis transfer

[Birdswin]

Mitchell Lewis TE from Miami OH - transferring to ISU. Will have three years - is from Naperville North HS. Good Deal

 

[TIMMY]

Big kid 6'5" 250. Good basketball player. Can't have enough targets.

 

[Adunk33]

Same high school as James O'Shaughnessy? Hopefully cut from the same cloth. We could use another guy like him. While in school, I got the chance to play basketball with James and Cam Meredith. They could play.

 

[ISUBU]

Big kid 6'5" 250. Good basketball player. Can't have enough targets.

With his size and basketball skills (all conference in high school), this is really intriguing. He played with no stats during his redshirt freshman year at Miami. Hopefully he spent his growing/learning time on their scholarship dollar so we can get his playing time on ours for the next three years.

 

[fourthandshort]

Miami OH finished 6-6, but they were 6-2 in MAC games .. Their 4 OOC losses were to Army (11-2), Minnesota (7-6), Marshall (9-4), Cincinatti (11-2) .. some quality losses for a MAC team. So he is coming from a very competitive MAC program.

May or may not get lots of catches, but athletic TEs make great special teamers. He was standout 2 sport athlete at a big HS in a tough conference .. was league MVP in basletball in Dupage Valley as a JR .. should carve out some kind of roll somwhere for our Redbirds.

Mitchell Lewis .... Welcome to Redbird Nation ... be ready to work !!!

 

[isuquinndog]

News source: https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/tight-end-lewis-transfers-to-isu/article_87ca065f-f4bc-5d7a-9c45-6f0a619d9c9e.html

 

[TreRoberson4Heisman]

FWIW - it was between Miami OH and ISU out of High School

 

[Total Red]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

 

[TIMMY]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

For anyone interested in 2 TE sets (12 personnel) here's some good stuff.

 

[TIMMY]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

For anyone interested in 2 TE sets (12 personnel here's some good stuff.
https://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2014/12/19/7411617/seahawks-tony-moeaki-cooper-helfet-luke-willson
http://smartfootball.com/defending-the-spread/gaining-leverage-on-overhang-players-and-access-to-the-alley-against-odd-fronts#sthash.KIkZ2wqu.dpbs

 

[RBFANTOO]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

I really like the idea of 2 big targets for the passing game plus their run blocking capability at the same time. Looking forward to this season.

 

[fourthandshort]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

I really like the idea of 2 big targets for the passing game plus their run blocking capability at the same time. Looking forward to this season.

operative word being "target" ... implying, we will also throw to them. We did a a lot of 2 TE sets last year and put them in motion until my head was spinning ... but rarely threw to them. Our issue had more to do with pass game issues ... but in many programs, the TEs get lost in today's game of playing in space, and I don't quite understand why. But most teams struggle to take advantage of the TE as both a blocker and viable pass catcher. I don't get it, but it's a pretty wide spread issue.

 

[DannyCooksey]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

For anyone interested in 2 TE sets (12 personnel here's some good stuff.
https://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2014/12/19/7411617/seahawks-tony-moeaki-cooper-helfet-luke-willson
http://smartfootball.com/defending-the-spread/gaining-leverage-on-overhang-players-and-access-to-the-alley-against-odd-fronts#sthash.KIkZ2wqu.dpbs

Love 2-TE sets. I hope it’s used a lot this year. I think it’s a great fit with this roster.

 

[fourthandshort]

The TE position appeared stocked before the arrival of Lewis but even though Lewis is 6'5 250 Coach Spack doesn't see him strictly as a TE. He could play WR and I could see him being tried in the slot as well. I'd like to see Gillum and Lewis on the field at the same time. That might not be enough speed to suit some people but that's two big targets for the passing game and two good blockers for the run. The way I figure it if you're a 6'5 250 guy and you get covered by a 6'0 DB you don't need to be real fast. You're already open.


August should be interesting. With Lewis (TE/WR) and Mends (LB) I see Receiving and Linebacking as two areas that could receive makeovers before the 8/31 opener. When a position group is unsettled going into August some people view that as a sign of weakness but that won't necessarily be the case. There's talent at both positions. We just need to see if the returning players come back better and if the new players are as good as we hope.

For anyone interested in 2 TE sets (12 personnel here's some good stuff.
https://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2014/12/19/7411617/seahawks-tony-moeaki-cooper-helfet-luke-willson
http://smartfootball.com/defending-the-spread/gaining-leverage-on-overhang-players-and-access-to-the-alley-against-odd-fronts#sthash.KIkZ2wqu.dpbs

Love 2-TE sets. I hope it’s used a lot this year. I think it’s a great fit with this roster.

I like them too, but only if we will actually throw to them more and use them not only for blocking but also to spread things out and mix things up. Nice to have big targets underneath, and they're harder for LBers to tackle over middle. We need to spread things out for Robinson (and Proctor) ... we saw what can happen to a great run game against good defenses when you can't effectively spread the defense out and keep them honest in pass game ... all american RBs like Robinson can only do so much when good defenses (NDSU, SDSU, UNI, WIU) are allowed to stack the box.

Need short passing game, including more throws to our TEs .. if all they do is block, good defenses will figure us out again. And I don't care how good they are at blocking .. it becomes predictable and good defenses will figure it out eventually. We saw this movie the last couple years .. not just last year. It is why we are going 6-5 and look like a top 10 team every year, only to fizzle and be lucky to be in top 25.

 

[TIMMY]

I guess the key to any offense is balance. What I love about 12 personnel is it spreads the defense out horizontally. It creates that extra gap and forces the defense to play with 8 in the box. Pull a guard and they should really win the LOS numbers game. That in and of itself should open up the vertical passing game. Especially play action. But as you say, when they stack the box to stop the run you have to make them pay over the top. I think this group has that ability. Here's hoping.

 

[DannyCooksey]

I guess the key to any offense is balance. What I love about 12 personnel is it spreads the defense out horizontally. It creates that extra gap and forces the defense to play with 8 in the box. Pull a guard and they should really win the LOS numbers game. That in and of itself should open up the vertical passing game. Especially play action. But as you say, when they stack the box to stop the run you have to make them pay over the top. I think this group has that ability. Here's hoping.

this

i also think that when done properly (pulling guard) it really lends itself to 25's running style where he can show a little patience and then get to the 2nd level clean where he becomes a nightmare to tackle with his power and balance.

I also think Davis will improve as a ball handler/play faker from his time at the Manning camp. That's a huge part of opening things up.