Louisville Football is rounding out their 2021 class and one position they have been looking to fill is QB. Today they addressed that need with the commitment of 2021 3 Star QB TJ Lewis.
In God I Trust.
— 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐊. 𝐋𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬 𝐉𝐫🦅(𝐓𝐉) (@__TjLewis) August 1, 2020
L’s Up!!!⚫️🔴@CoachRock73 @CoachSattUofL @CoachFrankPonce @CoachCFitch17 @pete_nochta13 @GunterBrewer @GATerrors @UofLFootball @ChadSimmons_ pic.twitter.com/PWuVGuQ5Qu
The 6’3 180 lbs prospect from Brunswick, GA chose the Cards over offers from UCF, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Boston College, Virginia, and Northwestern, among others. 247sports ranks Lewis the 906th best overall prospect in the class and the 27th best at his position. QB Coach Frank Ponce and ILB Coach Derek Nicholson led the staff’s recruitment of Lewis. Lewis plays for Glynn Academy.
Here is Shawn’s breakdown of what Louisville is getting in TJ Lewis. We will update later with Sam’s breakdown as well.
Shawn’s Breakdown
TJ Lewis is a true dual-threat QB. His athleticism is evident when evading pass rushers in the pocket or running the ball with designed QB runs. He has very good speed and his size allows him to break tackles. As a passer, he has good touch and arm strength. He shows ability to make reads and find open receivers. Accuracy is decent and he can fit throws into tight windows. Lewis has a cool head and is able to keep his eyes up field and deliver throws under pressure. He can make any throw you ask whether hitting slants or crossers or throwing deep downfield.
Lewis shows good instincts and natural ability as a passer. His footwork is pretty good, as he uses a good wide base to step into passes. His arm strength is good. He shows plenty of zip on the ball when throwing slants or into relatively tight windows. Downfield he can throw the ball around 40 yards. It’s hard to know if he can throw farther because the offense his school runs appears to favor intermediate throws.
What I think is his true specialty is understanding how to use touch. Lewis isn’t looking to show off his arm strength. He understands how to put touch on the ball to make it catchable for his receivers. When warranted, he throws bullets. Sometimes he uses beautiful high arcing bombs and others a pass in between a bullet and bomb. We UofL fans have seen QBs that struggle to understand when to use touch.
Under duress, Lewis is very good at avoiding pass rushers and keeping his eyes up field to find open receivers. Quite a few times in his highlights, Lewis avoids pressure and readjusts to find open receivers and complete passes. Even when the pressure is on and he can’t avoid it, Lewis is excellent at making throws off balance, standing tall to make the throw and take a hit, or throwing on the run.
In a bit of a surprise, Lewis shows some ability to read the field. On the third highlight, Lewis starts out looking to his right. There looks to be 4 receivers out running routes. He quickly progresses from right to left and finds the fourth receiver wide open for an easy pitch-and-catch TD. While he still does lock on to one receiver, Lewis showing he can read the field leads me to believe he will be able to do that as he grows more at the position.
Lewis is a true dual-threat and it shows in his running. He’s a taller guy so he has long strides when running. His size makes him hard to bring down with one tackler. As a runner, he’s a player that can make nice jump cuts and stop and let defenders fly by and then accelerate again. While he can make defenders miss, Lewis is definitely at his best getting north-south and using his straight-line speed. His speed allows him to get huge chunks of yards and makes him a threat to take it to the house. His capability as a runner in Scott Satterfield’s offense is tantalizing when you think of him running a read-option with guys like Hawkins, Mitchell, and Cooley in the backfield with him.
I like what TJ Lewis brings to the table. He’s still a raw prospect, but you can see his QB instincts in the way he plays. His understanding of using touch, his willingness to make a pass under duress, and him showing he can make reads (even though it was only in one highlight) make me believe Frank Ponce and Scott Satterfield can mold him into a very good QB. That’s not even mentioning his ability as a runner which, coupled with the talent that will surround him in the backfield, makes him a serious weapon.
TJ Lewis is a QB with a ton of potential. He’s a true dual-threat that, just based on his highlights, is definitely growing into the position. His ability to understand how to throw the ball, his ability to stand in the pocket and deliver passes, his ability to find the open man, and his ability to take off for huge gains with his legs make him a huge weapon under center. He is a bit reminiscent of Jawon Pass with more speed and agility and a little better touch on his passes. It should be fun to see how Frank Ponce will mold Lewis and if Lewis can reach his full potential.
With TJ Lewis’ commitment, Louisville now has 22 commits for the 2021 class.
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