It’s been an up-and-down three years in Gainesville for Gators tight end C’yontai Lewis.
The sophomore from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, had a fantastic start to his Florida career, catching two balls for 44 yards in his first collegiate game against New Mexico State, both for touchdowns. Unfortunately, that would be the last meaningful contribution of the season from the tight end as he missed five games in 2015 because of a hand injury. Not counting the season opener, Lewis had two catches for 31 yards the rest of the season.
The 2016 campaign did not start as well as Lewis planned, as he was suspended for the season opener for getting into an altercation in practice with teammate Jalen "Teez" Tabor. After serving his suspension, the 6-foot-4, 231-pound tight end had been underwhelming as a replacement option for Jake McGee, who graduated after the conclusion of the 2015 season.
Going into the Georgia game, Lewis had only nine catches for 70 yards on the year. At that point, fellow tight end DeAndre Goolsby had more than double the receptions that Lewis had with 25 catches for 215 yards and a touchdown.
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Plenty of pedestrian performances supplemented with some dropped passes is enough to derail a season. However, it seems like everything has finally clicked for Lewis, as he was a huge part of Florida’s 24-10 victory over Georgia on Saturday.
In the win, Lewis caught two passes for 36 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season. Even though his numbers are not the prettiest on the box score, Lewis' big plays came at an important time for the Gators.
With the Gators offense struggling early and trailing 3-0, Lewis made a play that could end up being one of the most impressive of the season on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Luke Del Rio threw a ball towards the Florida sideline and Lewis made a superb catch over Georgia cornerback Dominick Sanders. The catch was so great that it ended up showing up on ESPN’s Monday Night Football Countdown, during Randy Moss' “You Got Mossed!” segment.
Later in that same drive, on 3rd and 6 inside the red zone, Lewis caught a pass then broke a tackle en route to a 19-yard touchdown. That play gave the Gators their first lead of the afternoon and energized the offense moving forward.
Despite Lewis dropping some passes earlier in the season, the tight end and Del Rio have developed some chemistry on and off the field. Del Rio has made it known how much he admires Lewis as a teammate and as a person.
“You can’t ask for a better teammate. I’ll tell you that right now. C’yontai is one of my favorites of all time," Del Rio said. “I mean, he is unreal as a person and, you know, second-most important as a player. He works his tail off in practice. He’s always positive. He brings a great kind of sense of humor to the offense. Really proud that he made that catch for me. I was pretty happy about that. And then extending a third down play into a touchdown — really happy.”
When asking anyone on the Florida football team about Lewis, they will usually tell you how much time and effort he puts into practice. This became known this past summer when Lewis was putting in the time trying to rebound off his injury-riddled redshirt freshman season.
“Since the summer he's always making plays," said wide receiver Brandon Powell. "I mean, he had a little injury last year that kind of held him back, but ever since the summer he's been making plays. I mean, it's nothing new to us."
Being a three-star recruit, Lewis wasn’t the most the talked about the player in Florida’s recruiting class. Many saw the playmaking potential he has in the Georgia game, but a lot of people don’t know the type of presence he has in practice.
"He's an energy guy," offensive lineman Martez Ivey said. "You see him out here in practice, he's always giving us high-fives and trying to get us to go, get us more involved in practice and try to have fun. It showed on Saturday."
Added Powell: "On the field he's serious, he never jokes around, but probably go in the locker room right now he's probably joking with everybody, making little funny videos or whatever. But on the field he's serious, he's ready to learn, you know, coming out to work. So that's what type of guy he is."
The tight end position has played a nice role in the Jim McElwain era. Last season, tight ends combined to score seven touchdowns and rack up 733 receiving yards. It will be interesting to see what type of a role Lewis will have in the Florida offense moving forward.
For a team currently in search of more consistent playmakers on offense outside of receiver Antonio Callaway, Lewis could add an element to the offense that the Gators desperately need if he continues to emerge.
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