2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Jace Lewis, LB, University of Montana
The University of Montana had a linebacker last year who dominated college football in Dante Olson, but if you watched film on him, you would have noticed the other linebacker as well. Jace Lewis the hard hitting linebacker from Townsend, Montana stuck out like a sore thumb. Let’s look at Jace Lewis and give you a breakdown of the 2021 NFL Draft Prospect.
It all started in high school, when Lewis was a three sport athlete at Broadwater high school. He was a track star, a football standout and a captain of his basketball team. The communications major at Montana was quite the quarterback in high school.
From Quarterback to standout Linebacker
He was the offensive MVP in 2014/15 and the defensive MVP in 2013,14,15. He finished his career with 4,337 passing yards and 6,511 total yards with 84 combined touchdowns. That is impressive at the high school level.
He was a stud on defense too though, he racked up 344 tackles and 17 sacks to go along with his 43 tackles for loss. Lewis is athletic, and loves special teams for the Griz.
In his first season at Montana, Jace red-shirted his Freshman year. In 2017 as a Redshirt Freshman, Lewis was a force on special teams racking up 16 total tackles. He played in ten games total mostly on special teams.
In 2018, is when Lewis really began to stand out. He was a special team ace for the Grizzlies and a key contributor to the top ranked kickoff coverage unit with 62 tackles on the season. He also had a good year on defense, which really helped him blossom into the player he is today.
Last season, Jace Lewis blew up! He racked up 131 tackles, posted 4.5 sacks and played in all fourteen games. While he only stands at 6010, Lewis is tenacious and relentless. He hits hard, and is always going for the ball. I think this year another player from Montana’s linebacking core will have a shot to play on Sunday’s.
NFL Draft Diamonds Scouting Notes:
Last year, Dante Olson had tons of scouts coming in to watch his film. Because of this, Jace Lewis had scouts watching him as well. Lewis and Olson are very similar players. Both super athletic and very talented. Olson was a Buck Buchanan Award Finalist and I think you will see Jace Lewis in that same boat next season. Lewis overall is an NFL prospect and he will not be overlooked much longer. His ability to play special teams will help separate him from the others in at his position. – Damond Talbot, NFL Draft Diamonds Owner
NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com