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RB Jamal Lewis, Cleveland Browns

HT: 6-0, WT: 240, Born: 8-29-1979, College: Tennessee, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 5

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 29th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: L Coles (81), L Moore (82), Jamal Lewis (83), J Cotchery (84), O Daniels (85)
Position: F Jones (78-RB32), D Brown (80-RB33), Jamal Lewis (83 - RB34), D Sproles (88-RB35), W McGahee (96-RB36)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Best Case

Jamal Lewis is getting a little long in the tooth, but he still has a few carries left in him. The Browns obviously believe in him this season as they added no one of significance to the backfield. Jerome Harrison will get some looks, but this is still Lewis’ team. He will be their primary back.

Worst Case

Lewis' rushing average is pretty abysmal for a lead back - he has been over 3.6 YPC only once in the last five years. While he generally plays hurt, Lewis does experience a variety of nicks and bruises. These minor ailments add up and reduce his overall effectiveness.

Outlook

he 2007 season looks like a blip on the radar now, and it appears that Lewis has fallen into that RB3 range where he'll be good enough to have on your roster, but not productive enough to start every week. A new offensive line helps, but with 2600 touches under his belt already, his best years are obviously in the past.

Relevant Articles

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Lewis appeared to be bothered by his hamstring injury. He started out by taking his first touch, a screen pass, 14 yards for a first down, but appeared to be tentative when he was asked to carry the ball. His longest play from scrimmage came on the final drive in the fourth quarter when he took a handoff up the middle for a 24 yard gain. This was also his first action after getting an extended rest in the third quarter.

Week 2 - Lewis had a tough night against Pittsburgh. He could not consistently get out of the backfield without facing some pressure from the Steelers, leading to a long night for him and a poor average (two yards per carry).

Week 3 - Lewis seemed to have good vision, making cuts and fighting through defenders for extra yards. He was put on the shelves though when the Browns fell way behind in the third quarter, never getting the chance to wear down the Ravens' defense.

Week 4 - Lewis worked hard at grinding out yards all day. He was unable to gain yards in bunches, and often faced pressure from the Cincinnati defense before he was out of the backfield. His rushing TD involved him leaping up and putting the ball over the goalline, showing that he still has the awareness and ability to get into the end zone.

Week 6 - Lewis had a nice game and ran hard, punishing defending with his physical play. He scored on a four yard run that came after a long pass reception by WR Braylon Edwards. He had 11 carries for 39 yards in the first half and would add 49 yards in the second half.

Week 7 - Lewis ran with a lot of power and showed good acceleration to the hole, and seemed on the verge of breaking free for bigger gains several times, but the Redskins' swarming defense held him to just two runs of over ten yards. However, eight of his 19 carries were for four yards or more, which was testament to his strong running against a very good defense. Lewis could have gained better overall numbers, but Anderson missed him on two throws, while he took the pass he did catch to the one yard line.

Week 8 - Lewis ran with a lot of power and showed good acceleration to the hole, attacking defenders as they came to tackle him, and gaining yards after contact on most of his carries. He was stopped for a loss once, and that was on a play at the one yard line and Jacksonville's defense keyed on him. Lewis seemed to remain fresh throughout the game, delivering blows to defenders late in the fourth quarter with the same energy as he did early in the game. He would have gained significantly more yardage had it not been for the fact he was playing against a good defense that was keying in on him.

Week 9 - Lewis was unable to get anything going against Baltimore's stout rush defense. It seemed like they stacked the middle against him, but Lewis still seemed to force his runs there regardless of the lack of holes.

Week 10 - Lewis only average three yards a carry on 19 attempts despite breaking off a nice 29 yard run early in the game. A bit of disappointment considering Denver has one of the worst run defenses in the league. Lewis still has a little burst as showed in one and only long carry of the game but, he just didn't seem to get into a grove. He did run hard and made a big first down on a fourth and short situation in the second half where it looked like he'd be tackled for loss. His ability to break tackles paid off toward the end of the game where Lewis was able to record a touchdown after stretching the ball over the goal line.

Week 11 - Lewis ran the ball pretty well in the first half and had his best run of half on a play down the right sideline for 16 yards to the Bills' two yard line before being run out of bounds in the second quarter. He did not get a chance to punch it in as Cleveland scored on the next play on a run to WR Josh Cribbs. He had 40 yards rushing on ten carries in the first half. He would add 25 more yards in the second half on eight carries and didn't have much room to run as the Bills did a pretty good job against Lewis, despite giving a big run to RB Jerome Harrison.

Week 12 - Lewis ran the ball well, but uncharacteristically fumbled the ball twice and really cost the Browns. He was cutting well and hitting the hole hard. He also was blocking very well, but he may be losing carries to Jerome Harrison who received seven carries while Lewis only had ten carries.

Week 13 - Lewis saw one of his largest workloads, and started off really strong. He did slow down as the game went on, though. In the first half he was able to get the Browns going by stringing together first downs. He really did not maintain that though as it seemed the Colts toughened as the game went on.

Week 14 - Lewis could not get anything going on the ground and the Browns quickly abandoned the run. It was not a pretty sight, but to be fair Tennessee really did not worry much about Ken Dorsey.

Week 15 - Lewis was not able to get going on offense. He had no explosion through holes or defenders.

Week 16 - Lewis managed to gain 76 yards on the game, but he failed to impress as he could not consistently move the chains. He did gain his 10,000th yard of his career in the game. After the game he said he was happy he got it because it was one of his goals all year. Lewis did not seem too disappointed that the Browns lost, though. He has not been moving piles like he used to and it seems like he has lost a step. There were good holes for him to hit and that is why he gained as many yards as he did on the day.

Week 17 - Lewis ran the ball very well early on and ended up with solid numbers against a tough defense. The team's offensive line was able to control the line of scrimmage early and the Browns were able to keep things fairly close for a while. Lewis has a decent history against Pittsburgh over his career. Lewis was able to break more than a few tackles and showed some elusiveness that made others miss. He ended up with four yards a carry. Lewis did not get a target in the passing game.