Dion Lewis: The Good, the Great and The Ugly
The Giants added Dion Lewis, a former New England Patriot, and Tennessee Titan, to their running backs room in March. After seeing what transpired for the Giants running backs in 2019, the move makes a lot of sense.
Saquon Barkley suffered an injury that seemingly hampered him throughout the season, Wayne Gallman went down with an injury, and then the team was forced to start Jon Hilliman, who has since been cut, on prime time television versus the Patriots.
It behooved the Giants to add a capable veteran running back, especially if the running back had success in blitz pick-up, something that Barkley struggled with in 2019.
Lewis was inexpensive, and he can assist Barkley with his veteran leadership. The contract was for one year, $1.5 million, so he figures to step into the running back two role and possibly spell Barkley if the star running back breaks off his incredibly long runs. Let’s see what Lewis can bring to the 2020 Giants:
The Good: He Can Spell Barkley
While Lewis has lost some speed, he still has enough juice and vision to find holes and burst through them for some gains. On 54 attempts, he averted 17 tackles, and we can witness some of his short-area quickness and elusiveness to avoid taking shots from bigger, more physical players.
He’s instinctive and quick to identify the fronts pre and post-snap and then react accordingly to find the correct holes, while also avoiding tackles at the line of scrimmage. For a more diminutive back, he breaks a lot of tackles. We see more of his vision and ability to find creases below.
In the first clip, Lewis is able to jumpcut around defenders and follow his blocks to daylight. Sadly, he doesn’t have breakaway speed anymore, and that will hinder his upside, but he still has the mental processing to react to defensive movements and find creases while following blocks.
His small nature also allows him to hide behind bigger blockers, which assists in his ability to squeeze through tight gaps. Lewis can get “skinny” in these situations. The second clip just shows his ability to churn his legs through 2nd level contact, despite only being 5’8 and 195 pounds.
These are more clips from 2018 that show Lewis’ adept vision, stop/start ability, and patience behind, near, and past the line of scrimmage.
These are underrated traits that can come in handy when rushing behind a poor offensive line, something we, as Giants’ fans, hope the 2020 team can avoid.
From the I-Formation, Lewis identifies the key block from the center on the MIKE and he’s able to promptly go off-course and break away from the defense (for a bit). We can also see the contact balance he displays through the defensive backs’ tackling attempts.
The second clip attests to his pass-catching ability near the line of scrimmage. Getting Lewis into space is still a viable option for the Giants; yes, he may lack some top-end speed, but he does a good job making defenders miss at the tackle point.
His slippery nature can be deceptive, but it should be utilized on slip-screens, flares, and short choice routes.
The Great: Blitz Pickup
A lot of Giants’ fans remember Jamal Adams and how he was able to propel the Jets to victory against the Giants on a few key blitzes that weren’t effectively blocked by Saquon Barkley in the six-man protection package. Lewis should be able to help in this category.
It is of extreme importance that running backs not only pick up the blitz effectively but also identify it correctly pre-snap, and we can see Lewis do that above. In both instances, he reacts to the stunt from Cam Jordan, No. 94, and the A-gap blitz from the Texans per the Tennessee Titans' blocking scheme.
He’s on the same page with his offensive line, and he puts himself into a position to protect his quarterback, and then he does just that. With a firm base, he lowers his shoulder, absorbs the contact, and doesn’t concede a lot of ground to the player with momentum.
In both these clips above, Lewis is taking on defenders who outweigh him by at least 40 pounds, and the defenders have momentum, yet he’s still able to hold up enough to allow the quarterback to get rid of the pass.
The EDGE player knocks him back a bit, but it’s enough for Ryan Tannehill to throw the ball. The running back is vital in 6 man protection blitz pick-ups, and Lewis does it very well. Watch the game of cat & mouse he plays with the unblocked defender on the edge below.
It doesn’t appear to be impressive, but it shows a lot of patience and mental processing. Lewis knows there’s going to be a blitzing unblocked defender with momentum coming off the edge, so his goal is to slow him down.
Watch how Lewis baits the defender with a fake cut move that slightly pauses the defender causing hesitation. After Lewis is able to subtly make the defender hesitate, he aims for the inside leg of the rusher to force him outside and wide.
Lewis is able to slow him down enough to allow the completion down the field. This is a smart, savvy, and excellent play from Lewis that may go unnoticed because he didn’t drive the defender off the ball, but a lesser pass protector would not have been able to pull those moves off.
Here’s another rep of Lewis identifying the A-gap blitz and stopping a talented linebacker from getting to the quarterback. Deion Jones, No. 45, blitzes through the A-gap, and Lewis aggressively steps into the pressure and is able to rid Jones out and away from the pocket.
Jones is a 6’1, 227-pound, linebacker for reference, and this blitz pick-up helped lead to the subsequent six points that the Titans recorded on this play.
The Ugly: Attrition
Lewis was never a burner, but his speed decline is evident in his recent film. I think it’s even safe to say that he was a lot quicker in 2018 than last year.
Running backs north of 30 aren’t known for their longevity, and there’s a reason why the Giants only signed him to a one year deal. Lewis is 30 years of age, has had serious injuries in his past, and his athletic skill-set has declined.
With that stated, he still has a lot of elusiveness and enough juice to receive limited work week in and week out. If Barkley suffers a serious injury, Lewis is not the bell-cow answer. A committee would have to be formed.
Lewis played one game as the “bell-cow” in 2019, filling in for Derrick Henry, who missed the Saints matchup. New Orleans was one of the toughest run defenses, but Lewis managed 15 carries for 68 yards (4.5 YPC).
If Barkley is forced to miss a game or two, Lewis should be fine, but he can’t be the only answer for anything more than that. He’ll have his niche as a pass protection, route running (when spelling Barkley), back for the 2020 Giants, but his days of heavy usage week in and week out are over.
Final Thoughts
Dion Lewis should have a limited, yet essential, role on the 2020 Giants. He can spell Barkley in spurts, when necessary, and be valuable in blitz identification/pick-up.
His age and declining athletic ability will hinder his effectiveness if his role expands due to injured teammates, but I like the cheap signing of a veteran presence that can have an impact.
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