Michigan's Jourdan Lewis drafted No. 92 overall by Dallas Cowboys
Jourdan Lewis heard a lot of reasons why he wouldn't be selected high in the NFL draft.
Now he gets to show why he deserved to be.
Michigan's two-time All-America cornerback was pick No. 92 overall by Dallas Cowboys in the third round of the NFL draft Friday.
He is the second Wolverine picked by the Cowboys. Taco Charlton went to Dallas in the first round.
"This guy was the best player on the board 30 picks ago., 40 picks ago," ESPN's Todd McShay said. "He’s the best nickel cornerback in the draft. I understand why he fell, but I don't know if there is a better cornerback in terms of cover instincts and the ability to stay in the hip pocket of a receiver. I love his toughness too. Outside of his speed, he reminds me a lot of Jason Verrett. He's small, he has quickness, he has great mirror ability, he reads the receivers' routes before they break, has unbelievable instincts. He gave up the least amount of separation of any cornerback in this class, and he doesn't mind, in fact he loves mixing it up. I didn’t care about anything else. This guy is a football player."
Former Ohio State receiver Michael Thomas trolled Lewis earlier in the night asking who drafted Lewis as Lewis slid down the board. Lewis answered, saying the Cowboys once he was picked.
Lewis, from Detroit Cass Tech, was dogged throughout the draft process as being too small at 5-foot-10, 188 pounds, the reason most draft experts place him as a nickel cornerback in the NFL.
But Lewis played on the outside in college and his technique was so strong, even occasionally against bigger, stronger receivers, that teams began throwing away from him.
As a junior, Lewis set a Michigan record with 22 pass break ups, enough to help him become an All-America. He wanted to graduate from college so he returned as a senior and, despite missing the first four games due to injury, when he returned, teams still feared him and avoided him.
According to Pro Football Focus, Lewis allowed only four touchdowns while having six interceptions and 28 pass breakups in the the 186 passes thrown at him over his final three seasons.
PFF ranked him as the No. 24 overall player in the draft.
"In a conference with a lot of great defensive backs, he was one of the best cover guys you’ll ever find," ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said. "Think about this number -- 45 career pass breakups. That's remarkable. Watching Michigan, fun to watch. He's blanketing receivers all over the field. Good ball skills, he's just not real big, doesn’t have tremendous speed."
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But the past few months may have hurt his stock from what it could have been. He played his worst games in years against Florida State in the Orange Bowl, beaten a few times for touchdowns or long gains.
At the NFL scouting combine, none of his skills stood out as he ran a 4.54-second 40-yard dash. A few weeks later, on March 15, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, accused by his live-in girlfriend. Lewis pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a trial in late July.
It's unclear if the legal uncertainty affected his draft stock because he had nearly six weeks to discuss it with teams and still was brought in by a number of teams on visits.
He is the first Cass Tech player drafted since Will Campbell in 2013 and was joined by fellow Technician, U-M safety Delano Hill, who went later in the third round to the Seahawks.
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Jourdan Lewis, Delano Hill could give Detroit Cass Tech 2 NFL draftees