Wolverine247 Board

Yeah, seems like those who opine Lewan is making a mistake are viewing it from purely a financial perspective....when Lewan said his decision to return is about much, much more than that.

He doesn't have much to gain?

That shows your outlook on life. He has a year full of memories and experiences with his teammates and coaches at a University that he obviously cares about to gain.

I meant as a player. The reason's you mentioned are all great but are they worth the risk of going back and possibly getting injured, and having your stock take a massive drop. He's already being projected as a top 10 pick. IDK how much better his stock is going to get playing another season. I'm happy he's coming back, and I'm happy he doing what he thinks is right. But IMO its a mistake.

Ive been gone all day all I can say is wow Im surprised and happy.

This is really a decision for the kid and what will make him happy. But everybody thinking it could hurt him I don't see that happening... say worse case scenario he tears his knee up in spring ball. Do you honestly see him falling out of the 1st Round because of that? I don't. If he can move up from a 7-15 pick (where i've seen him mocked) to a 1-5 pick that's a multimillion dollar raise. The risk/reward is there on both sides considering the money.

I just don't see it... he's got too long a track record & he's got too much size/skill. If he were a skill position player that relied on speed then I could see it, but not in his case.

I'm trying to think of someone in a similar position (highly rated Tackle that passed on the draft and got seriously injured in his Senior year) but nobody is coming to mind.

Absolutely. You don't sacrifice 4 years of a quality OL for 1 year of Taylor Lewan. Rather than closing off the scholarship because Lewan's returning, I would imagine this just means another RS Sr. won't get their 5th-year scholarship.

Also, we need tackle depth since now we know for sure that we're losing our two best tackles next year. (Although, Braden/Mags may emerge this year and allow Schofield to move back inside, but as of now, Lewan and Schofield are our two best OTs.)

Based on your value system he is making a mistake and you certainly have the right to that opinion. But obviously based on what appears to be important to Lewan his decision couldn't be better imo. Besides, being a bright guy, I bet he believes he didn't live up to his expectations for 2012. He knows his body and skill set, and as I said about six weeks ago, another year of development at the college level will be the best thing for him in the long term.

Tiny Richardson is going to push for the top OT spot as well... Next year will be really deep at LT... Hope the Lions get Milliner and then wait to grab a LT in 2014 and move Rief to RT

Why does Kalis have to be on the left? Honest question Why couldn't he be RG?

Simply, Lewans decision is based on that it is much bigger then himself. Helping develop players for future teams after he leaves and being a captain are all legacy aspects that affect the program on the whole