Every once in a while a defensive player comes along that is known as a ‘headhunter’. A player who takes pride in the physicality aspect of the game.
There is no question who that player has been for the last few season in Athens. Safety Lewis Cine, a Minnesota Vikings first-round pick this spring, was that player for Georgia.
At just 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Cine always seemed to hit like a guy twice his size.
That’s why former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Matt Bowen recently praised the No. 32 overall pick in April’s draft, calling Cine the “ultimate tone-setter” for a defense.
“From a coaching perspective, I want that guy. I want him in my secondary room because he is a tone-setter. He is an ultimate tone-setter,” Bowen said, when speaking with team reporter Tatum Everett.
A semifinalist for the 2021 Jim Thorpe Award, Cine finished the 2021 season as the Bulldogs’ leading tackler with 73 total stops and also had a team-high nine pass breakups and was named Defensive MVP of the CFP Championship Game.
“I just want to stack bodies,” Cine said back in May referring to his mindset when he takes the field.
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Bowen continued:
“When you turn on the tape and watch him play, there’s an urgency about him taped. And that is so important when it comes to secondary play. Are you urgent? Do you see it best? When you believe it, you go and make a play. He does that consistently.”
