It’s as if the local fish wraps were hunting for CB Keenan Lewis exclusively after OTAs finished up in Pittsburgh Thursday.
And he had plenty to say, such as quotes in both the Tribune-Review and the Post-Gazette indicating Lewis sees himself joining the AFC’s Pro Bowl team in 2012.
Lofty individual expectations are good. They show where a player’s head is. Lewis, apparently, is very optimistic about his chances of starting opposite CB Ike Taylor this year, to say the least.
And why shouldn’t he be? Brashness and arrogance are never traits one wants to openly see, but frankly, if you don’t at least toe the line of being brash and arrogant in terms of your skills as a cornerback in the NFL, what good are you? It’s a demanding position that required 110 percent confidence in oneself.
One thing is for sure, if Lewis was to make the Pro Bowl team, he’d be one of the biggest cornerbacks on either side. Lewis’s best trait is his size; 6-foot, 208 pounds is a large corner, and combining him with the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Ike Taylor would give the Steelers one of the biggest starting cornerback combinations in the NFL.
Both challengers to Lewis’s assumed starting position, Cortez Allen (6-foot, 196 pounds) and Curtis Brown (6-foot, 185) are both 23 years old, and growing into larger frames. The 26-year-old Lewis (high school teammate of Steelers WR Mike Wallace) has the edge to start over the talented younger corners in Pittsburgh due to having a bit more experience, but expect a hard charge from Allen. Brown, a freakishly athletic project type of corner, could have the highest ceiling of all of them.
Source: Behind the Steel Curtain
