The Wide Receiver Who Could Turn Heads This Season

There will be many new players breaking into the Wisconsin Badgers’ two deep on both offense and defense. On the coaching side of it all, even someone else will be calling plays this season. This means that there could be a lot of surprises coming out of spring camp. One player that could turn heads this season is transfer portal wide receiver Keontez Lewis.

Enter Keontez Lewis

Keontez Lewis was one of the four players the Badgers were able to secure a commitment from in the transfer portal. With the graduations of experienced starters Danny Davis, Kendric Pryor, and Jack Dunn, Lewis fills a need for the Badgers. Keontez Lewis appeared in 11 games and made one start at UCLA but didn’t record any statistics. The fact that Lewis hasn’t taken a lot of hits and still has eligibility remaining is huge for Wisconsin. It will help the depth at wide receiver in the upcoming years as well.

He Brings Size

Keontez Lewis comes into spring camp at a towering 6’3″. In an era where the rules favor the passing game, having a wide receiver with size is necessary. The Badgers haven’t had a lot of size at the position during the Paul Chryst era. Nick Toon was the last impactful wide receiver that was above 6’1″ and that was back in the Bret Bielema era.

With how intense the battle to crack the two deep at wide receiver has been; Keontez Lewis has done a great job at doing everything to stick out from the pack. This spring, Lewis looks to be emerging as a deep threat for the Badgers’ passing attack. This spring, he has consistently been the receiver who had the most success with converting a deep pass. They threw very few deep passes which ultimately hindered them against Minnesota.

Where He Could Fit

With Chimere Dike and Markus Allen all slated for bigger roles; Lewis would be a prime candidate to take over one of the slot receiver roles. Additionally, since he’s been emerging as a deep threat this spring, it’d be difficult to not play him this season. That 6’3″ frame can cause a lot of problems in the redzone for teams that the Badgers will be playing this season.

One reason for Wisconsin’s failure to go to Big Ten Championship game was their inability to make big pass plays. Despite this issue, it hasn’t stopped the Badgers from going to bowl games. However, making big plays in the passing game is necessary to succeed today in college football. Having a 6’3″ receiver like Keontez Lewis can go a long way to solving that problem. The fact that he is emerging as a deep threat in camp gives the Badgers a great option. With how well he has been doing in the spring, don’t be surprised if Mertz goes his way this season.

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