Conner Lew is a 6’3’’, 300lb offensive lineman from Auburn University. Coming out of Kennessaw Mountain High School in Acworth, Georgia, Lew rose to be one of the top interior offensive linemen in the country. He rose to the 20th-ranked IOL on 247 Sports and was rated as a 4 Star recruit. Lew committed to Auburn over major Power 4 schools like Miami, Georgia, Clemson, and more. In his 3 seasons of playing at Auburn from 2023-2025, he earned 2023 SEC All-Freshman Team honors, 2023 Freshman All-American, per PFF and 247 Sports, and was a 2024 and 2025 Rimington Trophy Watchlist member, which put him in great company as one of the best centers in college football. While his stock seemed to only be going up, it all came crashing down in week 7 of the 2025 season, when he sustained a torn ACL against Missouri, making him unable to return for the rest of the season. This has raised a question as to how high he will go in the Draft, but if his recovery stays on schedule, he will be game-ready by week 1 of the NFL season.
Connor Lew measures at 6’3”, 300 lbs, which is about the average height and weight of an NFL center. Lew has an innate snapping ability, where seemingly every ball he snaps lands right in the quarterback’s chest quickly and accurately. When stepping up to the line of scrimmage, Lew displays his mental strengths while commanding the offensive line and clearly communicating their responsibilities. In the run game, he has great hands and head placement on the first level, but will often allow his hands to get outside when switching to the second-level defender. He also keeps his eyes on the second level and quickly reacts to defenders when they stunt or blitz late, and knows to either come off or take over his defender to push the double team onto the second level. He also is very good at turning his hips to create holes for the ball carrier at both the first and second level. His biggest weakness in the run game would be his footwork. As a center, it is more difficult for him to take a strong first step than for other offensive linemen, but he will often lunge forward without taking a step, causing him to either become unbalanced and fall over or to be easily shed by the defender. This typically happens on short yardage runs. Lew is also solid in pass protection. He shows his great mental ability in this aspect as well, where he quickly and easily picks up on stunts and late blitzers, but will occasionally allow his hands to get outside on late rushers and bull rushes. He has the same issues with his anchor as he does with his short-yardage blocking. He will lean forward and even extend his arms out while burying his head, allowing defenders to shed off of him.
Connor Lew has all the intangibles that an NFL GM would want in their starting center, but there are a few things that are cause for concern. The first is his aforementioned ACL tear that he suffered in week 7 of the 2025 season. We have seen players come back from this type of injury plenty of times before across multiple sports, but it is still worth noting. Another potential cause for concern is fatigue with Lew. He will come out of the gates looking almost perfect for the first few drives, but then, as the game goes on, he gets noticeably lazier with his blocking and technique. He will begin making silly mistakes, such as not getting to the second level on time, placing his head on the wrong side, turning his hips the wrong way, and poor hand placement. Now, I’m not expecting him to play 100% perfect through
every single snap, but when there’s a noticeable drop-off in both execution and effort, it’s hard not to point out and question. Then, when you combine that with his ACL injury, which means he hasn’t seen game action since week 7, was only able to do strength testing and measurements at the NFL Combine, and could potentially miss part of Training Camp, it could definitely leave some questions in the minds of NFL GMs on if Lew would be NFL ready by the time the season starts.
Scheme Fit and Team Fit:
Connor Lew would fit nicely with the Ravens. They are a fairly run-heavy team with Derrick Henry in the backfield, but also have a great mobile QB in Lamar Jackson who they not only utilize heavily in the run game, but also is great at escaping the pocket.
NFL Player Comp: Frank Ragnow
Both players boast similar frames, with Ragnow being measured at 6’0”, 311 lbs. They are also better in the run game compared to pass protection, but are not necessarily bad in the pass game by any means.
Projection: League Average Starter
All of Lew’s weaknesses are very coachable, and if he can improve upon those he has the potential to be an All-Pro center, but with the concerns regarding injury, fatigue, and basic technique at times, he can still be a league average starter
Grade and Round Projection: 5.44, 3rd Round
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