Cowboys player is being blatantly disrespected
Jourdan Lewis is expected to miss the rest of the season after having foot surgery earlier in the week. The Dallas Cowboys starting cornerback suffered the injury in the same play he had an interception. Fifth-round draft pick DaRon Bland took over Lewis' role and has Cowboys fans feeling quite confident about what's ahead. See, […]
Jourdan Lewis is expected to miss the rest of the season after having foot surgery earlier in the week. The Dallas Cowboys starting cornerback suffered the injury in the same play he had an interception.
Fifth-round draft pick DaRon Bland took over Lewis' role and has Cowboys fans feeling quite confident about what's ahead.
See, I don't have any issue with feeling confident about Bland. The rookie was impressive throughout the offseason and showed he could do it on gameday over the course of the preseason. He deserves a shot at the job.
But I've seen both fans and content creators claiming this will be an immediate upgrade at the position and I've got to say this… I think that's disrespectful.
I get it, Lewis hasn't been a shutdown corner for the Cowboys or anything like that. But he's also been playing in what has become one of the most important positions in the NFL over the last few years.
Playing in the slot isn't easy. Long gone are the days in which nickel corners faced role players with limited ways of dealing damage. Every week, teams in this league are putting their best playmakers inside, where they can destroy any defense.
Lewis has played the ninth most slot coverage snaps (172) this season per Pro Football Focus. While doing so, he's allowed the seventh least yards per snap in slot coverage among corners with at least 99 snaps.
I'm not throwing these numbers your way to tell you that he's an elite player. I'm doing so to state the obvious:
In Jourdan Lewis, the Cowboys have gotten a player that can consistently play one of the most important positions in the sport and do so at a starting-caliber level for a unit that has been one of the best pass defenses in the league since the start of the 2021 season.
To think that removing Lewis from that equation and replacing him with a Day 3 rookie is going to be a seamless transition is wildly optimistic.
Keep in mind, one of the biggest reasons why Dan Quinn has been so successful has been his pressure packages. The way he designs his blitzes is a testament to how much he trusts the Cowboys' coverage in the back end.
Removing a starter from the lineup will be a tough blow Dallas will need to overcome. Bland has the tools to play in the NFL but expect some bumps along the way.
Featured image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
