Tag Archives: Thaddeus Lewis

Duke alumnus Thaddeus Lewis makes his NFL debut

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Thaddeus Lewis threw for over 10,000 yards in a Duke uniform between 2006 and 2009. Sunday, Lewis took the first NFL snaps of his career.

With Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy sidelined by injuries, the door was opened for Lewis to take the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Lewis and the Browns couldn’t defeat the Steelers, losing 24-10, but the Duke product completed 22 of his 32 pass attempts for 204 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown was caught by wide receiver Greg Little, who’s alma matter is…North Carolina.

With major question marks surrounding the Browns as an organization, not the least of which is quarterback play, Lewis’ performance Sunday could be enough for his name to factor into the quarterback discussion for 2013.

Renfree’s precision leads Duke to first victory

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The most intriguing numbers to arise out of Duke’s Week 3 victory over Boston College:

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Duke committed its second redzone turnover in as many games Saturday.  Counting the redzone drive that ended as time expired in the first half against Richmond, that makes three redzone turnovers in three games played.  Against the Eagles, Sean Renfree threw an interception caught by Jim Noel at Boston College’s six-yard line.

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Duke was hurt against Boston College by penalties.  In all, the Blue Devils committed nine penalties for a total of 79 yards—the rushing game managed just two more yards than penalties took away from Duke.  Against Stanford and Richmond, Duke committed a total of seven penalties for 52 yards.

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The Blue Devils won their first ACC game of the season for the first time in three years.  Back in 2008 Thad Lewis threw for two touchdowns and Jabari Marshall recorded one of four interceptions and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown on the way to a 31-3 Duke win over Virginia.  2011 and 2008 are the only two times in the last 10 years the Blue Devils won their first ACC game.  In 2009 Duke lost 34-26 to then No. 6 Virginia Tech and in 2010 they lost 54-48 to Wake Forrest.

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Sean Renfree had one of the best games of his career, and one of the most telling numbers was that Renfree commanded six drives in which his completion percentage was perfect.  For comparison’s sake, he managed just eight in his previous two games, but many of those came about because Renfree didn’t throw often during run-heavy drives.

Thaddeus Lewis Finds an NFL Home

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Thaddeus Lewis made the St. Louis Rams after a prolific preseason.

Thaddeus Lewis may have been disappointed when his name wasn’t called during the marathon, three-day long draft weekend.

But he’s not complaining now.

The former standout Duke quarterback, it was announced yesterday, made the St. Louis Rams as the team’s No. 3 quarterback behind No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford and veteran A.J. Feeley.

Playing mostly with the second and third string offenses, Lewis totaled 255 yards passing and completed 22 of his 28 attempts, leading all Rams quaterbacks in yards per completion.

Lewis’ accomplishment was announced last night during Duke’s victory over Elon and received possibly the loudest ovation of the contest.

Lewis On Target in NFL Preseason Debut

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Former Duke QB Thaddeus Lewis put up solid numbers in his NFL preseason debut.

Former Blue Devil quarterback Thaddeus Lewis saw limited playing time in the St. Louis Rams’ preseason opener Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings.

But he made the most of his four minutes and 38 seconds on the gridiron.

Lewis took the field at the 6:38 mark in the fourth quarter and completed 5-of-6 passes for 46 yards. He led the Rams from their own 39 yard-line to the Vikings’ 22, connecting on his first three attempts for six, 13 and 11-yard completions.

The drive stalled when the Rams faced a fourth-and-10 situation with 2:07 remaining. Lewis hit rookie tight end Fendi Onobun for eight yards up the middle, but the pass wasn’t enough to move the chains. The Rams ended up losing 28-7.

Thad’s stat line doesn’t jump out of the box score, and he was playing against second and third-string defenders in the closing stages of the game. Nonetheless, Lewis boasted an 83.3 completion percentage and a 98.6 QB rating. He also outperformed the other quarterbacks fighting for the remaining spots on the depth chart behind rookie Sam Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

Veteran A.J. Feeley could only muster 19 yards through the air on 3-of-6 passing. Second-year player Keith Null didn’t fare much better, completing 4-of-8 passes for 30 yards.

Assuming the Rams choose the experienced Feeley as Bradford’s backup, Lewis would have to beat out Null for the No. 3 spot. Null may have started four games for St. Louis last season, but he only completed 61.3% of his passes and threw nine interceptions along with three touchdowns.

Check back with The Blue Zone for more updates on Thad’s preseason performances as he attempts to make an NFL roster.

In other preseason news: Former Blue Devil linebacker Vincent Rey picked up three tackles in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 33-24 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday. He was tied for the team lead when factoring in his tackle on special teams.

Five Blue Devils Signed as Undrafted Free Agents

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Although they were not among the 255 players picked in this year’s NFL Draft, five former Duke football players inked undrafted free agent deals with NFL teams this weekend, including defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase and quarterback Thaddeus Lewis.

Oghobaase, a defensive tackle who had the best chance of getting drafted of the quintet, was signed by the Miami Dolphins.

Lewis, who is the leading passer in Duke history, signed with the St. Louis Rams.

Linebacker Vincent Rey, who met with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders prior to this week’s draft, ended up with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Additionally, the Giants signed two Blue Devil players—cornerback Leon Wright and defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk.

It is far too early to determine if any of the former Blue Devils will start next season on an NFL roster, as they will have to survive training camp cutdowns that will reduce rosters from up to 80 players down to a 53-man regular season squad. Still, making an NFL team as an undrafted free agent is far from unprecedented for recent Duke players. Former Duke linebacker/defensive end Patrick Bailey signed a undrafted free agent deal with the Steelers in 2008 and earned a slot on the team’s practice squad once training camp broke. From there, Bailey was added to the 53-man roster by the Steelers in September, eventually playing in 12 games and Super Bowl XLIII.