Xavier Lewis is moving into rare company.
On Tuesday, the Maxwell Club unveiled its 18 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, given each year to the top defensive player in college football, and the Tar Heels defender made the cut. That puts Lewis in position to chase one of the sport’s most respected honors as the regular season winds down.
For North Carolina, the nomination carries a little extra weight. Lewis is the first Tar Heel to land on the Bednarik semifinalist list since Julius Peppers in 2001, and Peppers went on to win the award that season.
Lewis’ rise has been one of the better stories on this Tar Heel roster. The sophomore started his college career as a walk-on, then announced himself in a big way in the opener, when he piled up seven total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and five total quarterback pressures. Since then, the numbers have settled some, but the production has stayed strong.
Through nine games, Lewis has played 516 snaps and put together 43 total tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and 32 total quarterback pressures.
There’s still work ahead if he wants to turn semifinalist status into a finalist spot. But the season he has already put together has been more than enough to get him into the conversation.
And with Melkart Abou Jaoude playing better in recent weeks and Leroy Jackson emerging as a pass-rush threat from the middle, Lewis may not be carrying quite as much of the attention as he was in the middle of the season. That could open things up a bit. For North Carolina, the formula is simple: keep Lewis rolling the way he has for most of the year.
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Lewis arrives with the kind of profile that can appeal to a program looking beyond the immediate future, since the evaluation around him points to a defender who could keep growing into a more complete player with time. For UNC, the commitment is less about instant impact and more about securing a young linebacker with traits that suggest there may be plenty more development ahead. [Read more 🡒]