2011 NFL Draft: Dion Lewis Heads To Philadelphia Eagles In Fifth Round

So, as I previously wrote, Dion Lewis is headed to Philly to team up with former Panther Lesean McCoy.

The reaction at the Lewis household? Well, duh:

"It was too loud to hear it," mom Linda Lewis said of her son’s name being called. "The house erupted."

"I am in shock."

Meanwhile the reaction elsewhere has been mixed:

- Great draft  

- Won't be a special player

- Should fit in well

Shady's take? His tweets indicate he's a big fan of the move.

And Dion's ready to join him:

"It’s going to be good having a guy like Shady; a guy that I’m familiar with and a guy I know," Lewis said. "He’s going to help me out. He’s going to be able to help me out and get used to some things, go over the playbook with him and things like that. So it’s good to have somebody that you know in the same backfield."

So for those not familiar with Lewis, there was the huge dip in production in 2010 from his monster 2009 season that's been a big topic of discussion. But why did it happen? Well, part of the reason was because he played behind a retooled offensive line last year. There was also the talk about a possible injury he was battling through. But here's another possible reason:

Lewis looked like a future first-day pick as a freshman at Pitt, winning Big East Offensive Player of the Year honors. He was the first Big East player to win both conference POY and Rookie of the Year since Michael Vick in 1999. But Lewis may have been overworked in his first year (325 carries), as he battled injuries as a sophomore and saw his YPC average slip from 5.54 to 4.84.

I imagine that's possible, but I don't think it's the reason. I think the offensive line had more to do about it than anything else. And let's not forget - Lewis didn't fall completely off the face of the earth. He had a disappointing year based ont he standards set for him by his freshman season, but still rushed for more than 1,000 yards and averaged nearly 5.0 yards per game last year. Not to shabby for a guy who split carries with another rusher during the season.

By the way, here's Dion's conference call audio.