Kellen Lewis To WR; Ben Chappell as QB
Ever since 2006, Indiana QB Kellen Lewis has provided excitement for Indiana Hoosier fans and frustration for other Big Ten teams. Lewis is quick, versatile, and elusive. He may not be the greatest passer but he’s proven to be at least decent. He’s reminded many of past Indiana great Antwaan Randle-El.
Just like Randle-El though, the Indiana coaching staff is going to try Lewis’s talents and athleticism at WR which would move Ben Chappell to the QB spot.
“The biggest difference in our offense is that we’re going to be more of a downhill running football team,” Lynch said. “I think that fits us better if Kellen isn’t back there at quarterback.”
This really doesn’t shock me too much. Despite missing two games last season, Lewis only threw for 6 TD’s, which was 22 less than the previous year and threw 8 interceptions. His number of passing yards past season went significantly down as well as his QB rating which was a 108.19 compared to his 134.17 rating in 2007. It was obvious Lewis digressed from 2007 and that the coaches wanted to go a different route.
But really, can you blame Lewis for digressing? This is a Hoosier team that only won 3 games compared to 7 the year before. In 2007, they were flying high while last year it seemed like almost everything fell apart due to graduation losses. They were in rebuilding mode once again and that Indiana team that everyone chalked up as a “W” on the schedule was back. So it was pretty much a given that Lewis would struggle as the IU offense was breaking in new offensive linemen and WR’s.
However, despite his struggles last season, I don’t like this move at all for Indiana. IU has a horrible offensive line and they need a QB that can scramble. Chappell won’t be able to bring that in his game. Sure he’s definitely a more proven passer than Lewis is but he’ll barely have any time to throw in the pocket. A pocket passer won’t cut it in the Big Ten where they’ll be facing top 25 defenses week in and week out. Lewis gives the Hoosiers the best chances to win every week. Add that this is his final year at Indiana and the coaches should let him play at HIS position.
Another area that people need to think about is whether or not Lewis will stay at the WR position the whole year? When Randle-El was moved to WR, he got switched back to QB because the coaches knew that the offense was best when Randle-El was under center. I have a feeling that this will happen with Lewis and it’ll be too late for IU to recover.
Kellen Lewis needs to stay at QB. This move to WR will not help the IU offense at all and probably will end up hindering it. The Hoosiers need solid consistency and Lewis gives them that. Take away his true talents at the QB position and you take away the biggest threat on that whole entire team.
