Oregon junior defensive back Javes Lewis has withdrawn from school and filed papers to enter the NFL Draft in April, the athletic department announced Wednesday.
Lewis had one year of eligibility remaining after playing mostly in reserve as a junior this season. The Tustin, Calif., native saw his playing time cut significantly after starting 12 games for the Ducks in 2009, with the emergence of Cliff Harris at the cornerback position and Eddie Pleasant’s move to rover this offseason.
Lewis would have been in a similar situation for the 2011 season and opted to leave school early to begin training in Arizona. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was frustrated with his playing time this year after seeing so much action during his sophomore campaign. After leaving the University, Lewis has enrolled at the University of Phoenix.
He posted 122 tackles and three interceptions during his 39 appearances as a Duck, including 25 stops this season in a backup roll.
At this point it’s unclear whether Lewis will be drafted in April.
Matthews makes Senior Bowl
Oregon senior linebacker Casey Matthews was one of 13 Pacific-10 Conference football players named to the Under Armour Senior Bowl Wednesday afternoon.
Matthews led the Ducks with 79 tackles this season, and finished his Oregon career with 245 total tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions, and nine sacks.
The contest will be held Jan. 29 in Mobile, Ala., at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, with the game and all practices televised live on the NFL Network.
Other Pac-10 selections include Arizona’s Brooks Reed (DL); California’s Cameron Jordan (DL); Oregon State’s Stephen Paea (DL); Stanford’s Sione Fua (DL) and Owen Marecic (RB); UCLA’s Kai Forbath (K) and Christian Yount (LS); USC’s Ronald Johnson (WR), Kristofer O’Dowd (OL) and Shareece Wright (DB); and Washington’s Mason Foster (LB) and Jake Locker (QB).
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