NFL Draft 2014: Former K-State OL Cornelius Lucas signed by Lions

Although his final season didn't start out auspiciously, two-time All-Big 12 lineman Cornelius Lucas is reportedly getting his shot, signing as an undrafted free agent with the Detroit Lions, per K-State beat reporter Ken Corbitt of the Topeka Capital-Journal.

K-State FS Ty Zimmerman signs undrafted free agent deal with New Orleans Saints, OT Cornelius Lucas with Detroit Lions

— Ken Corbitt (@KenCorbitt) May 10, 2014

Lucas, at 6'9" 328 with 37" arms who's very quick for his size, is a beast. The tallest lineman and the longest wingspan invited to the Combine, he was projected as an early-middle round pick prior to the 2013 campaign, but the shaky performance of K-State's offensive line early in 2013 hurt, and a late-season stress fracture caused Lucas to miss the NFL Combine. Still, per his agent all 32 teams expressed interest in him.

Lucas was the starting blindside tackle as a junior and senior, on a unit which allowed 39 combined sacks those two years. Eight of those 39 sacks came in the first four games of the 2013 campaign, while K-State's entire offensive line was struggling for cohesion, and another eight happened in the final three games, when the line as a whole was pretty beaten up.

Last week, at a specially-schedule pro day, Lucas was able to show that he's recovered from the stress fracture, and he had private workouts with the Dolphins and Saints leading up to the draft.

Courtesy of FOX Sports, here's some highlights:

Lucas does have downsides. He's not the fastest at reading hidden blitzes, he (gets away with) holds a lot, and he's not as physically strong as you'd expect. The first two can be solved with coaching, the latter with conditioning, but they're issues that need to be addressed.