Heaps: How has Seahawks OL Damien Lewis performed in Year 2?

The Seahawks got some promising moments overall from their 2020 draft class a year ago, but most of those players made their marks as minor contributors or on special teams. That wasn’t the case with Damien Lewis, though.

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Lewis, the team’s third-round pick from LSU, was instantly thrown into a starting job as the Seahawks’ right guard and he started every game for Seattle a year ago while playing in over 90% of all offensive snaps.

Lewis had a good rookie season at right guard, especially in run blocking, and expectations for him were high heading into the 2021 season. Now, Lewis is starting at left guard for Seattle after the Seahawks acquired veteran Gabe Jackson this past offseason.

So, how’s Lewis looked in his sophomore campaign after that promising rookie season? Former NFL quarterback Jake Heaps broke it down during Wednesday’s edition of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake and Stacy.

“Honestly, it’s been really tough,” Heaps said. “It’s been a tough year for him.”

Heaps did note that Lewis has been battling injuries this season, which has caused him to miss three games. But overall, Heaps expected more from Lewis after a strong 2020 showing.

“This has not been a stellar year. It’s been really disappointing to watch that for me,” he said. “Because as you look at his talent, you look at his ability, you think, ‘Man, this kid has what it takes, this kid has the ability to be a good guard in this league.'”

While Lewis’ rookie season overall was pretty good, Heaps thought he had some struggles during second half of the year that have translated into his second NFL season.

“That’s a trend that you hope doesn’t continue, because I have high hopes, continued high hopes for Damien Lewis,” he said. “But I don’t think you can look at Damien Lewis and his performance this season and say, ‘Yeah, there’s a lot to build off of it.’ There’s got to be better, more improved play.”

Heaps questioned if moving Lewis to left guard from his natural right guard position has led to worse play.

“Or (maybe) it’s his overall play just needs to improve, it needs to be better,” Heaps said. “It’s really hard to evaluate that what the true answer is for Damien Lewis, but certainly, it has not been the sophomore season that everyone was hoping he would have.”

And unfortunately for the Seahawks, Lewis and the entire offensive line have struggled, Heaps said.

“This has been a group that has really struggled this year in consistent play,” he said. “They haven’t really played well together across the board in the run game or pass game. And it’s very, very frustrating to be at this spot.”

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