Getty Penei Sewell celebrates a score in the Rose Bowl.
The Detroit Lions lucked out in a major way to land the best offensive lineman in the 2021 NFL Draft in Penei Sewell, and luck could be a good word for what played out for the team.
Sewell slipped past the needy Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins into the lap of the Lions, who snapped him up at seven overall. The good news for Detroit? Sewell could end up being one of the best players in the entire draft class if a coach is to be believed.
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According to an anonymous NFL coach, Sewell could be the one surefire Hall of Famer in the entire 2021 draft class.
One NFL head coach called Lions’ first-round pick Penei Sewell “the one surefire Hall of Famer in this draft class.”
Obviously the Lions would love that considering the fact that they have struggled getting Hall of Fame players in the draft or anywhere else lately in the draft. The team’s offensive line has been a weak point for years, but with Sewell, it’s suddenly a strong point.
Will Sewell’s road be paved to Canton, Ohio? Some see that to be the case.
Sewell Offers Lions Position Versatility
Most prospects are left tackles in the draft, but it’s possible if the right player was on the board, Detroit would jump at the opportunity to fortify their young offensive line further. If Oregon’s Penei Sewell could be such a player that the Lions would be motivated to jump into the mix for, and that might only be more of the case now after some new information has come to light.
Recently, it was revealed that Sewell has been training at right tackle and the potential is there for him to be selected by a team with a need at that spot rather than left tackle.
Versatility is key: #Oregon LT Penei Sewell, the Draft’s consensus top OT, has been training at right tackle as well as left tackle (which he played in college). Sewell is preparing for the possibility that someone with an entrenched LT drafts him & puts him at RT for a year.
Obviously, the Lions could fit as such a team given the presence of Taylor Decker on the roster. Putting Sewell at right tackle would be intriguing, and could be a way for the team to have a solid bookend mix in the league.
Sewell’s Stats and Highlights
The tackle from Oregon is a mountain of a man and someone who isn’t easily moved up front. Sewell excels as not only a pass blocker but a run blocker, and is as close to complete of an offensive lineman as there has been in the draft lately. While playing for the Ducks, Sewell became the 2019 Outland Trophy winner as the nation’s best offensive lineman and also was a Unanimous All-American and first-team All-PAC 12 player. Though he sat out 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it did little to dampen his stock as a top pick this April.
Sewell’s tape shows a player who can protect as well as move people up front, a deadly combination for the NFL.
With tape like that, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Sewell could be one of the best young lineman to hit the league in decades. Perhaps good enough to one day make the Hall of Fame.
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