The Detroit Lions have what analysts and players feel is one of the NFL’s top offensive lines heading into the 2022 season. The team’s bookend tackles — Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell — are game-changers capable of not just pass protection, but pushing defenders around in the run game as well.
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So how does this duo rate against the competition? Perhaps not as elite as some would anticipate. On May 11, Pro Football Focus published its ranking of the top 32 offensive tackles in the NFL, with Detroit’s pair placing near the middle of the pack. Writer Ben Linsey ranked Sewell 19th, placing him in the category of “young tackles trending in the right direction.”
In his analysis of Sewell, a second-year player who will turn 22 in October, Linsey wrote, “Another offseason with some positional continuity should only help him rise up these rankings as he enters his second season.”
As for Decker, a six-year veteran who will be 29 when the season starts, Linsey ranked him 22nd overall, in the “good starters” category, writing, “Decker may not be in the Pro Bowl conversation every year, but he is an important part of Detroit’s efforts to rebuild their roster through the trenches.”
As recently as 2016, the Lions’ O-line was ranked 24th in the league by PFF, but Detroit’s has been trending upward ever since. And the rankings could go up if the Lions start winning.
Decker, Sewell Could Represent Keys for Lions’ Front
If the Lions want to take steps forward on offense, Decker and Sewell will be expected to bring toughness and an edge to the field. Last year, the Lions missed that toughness in the first half of season, with Decker sitting out because of a spiral fracture in his finger.
With Decker out for eight games, Sewell, normally a right tackle, was forced to play the left side of the line. He did so virtually flawlessly, given all the variables thrown his way as a rookie. Sewell even showed the kind of toughness needed to succeed in the NFL when he stared down the Los Angeles Rams‘ Aaron Donald on October 24.
Why Lions’ Offensive Line Could Be Tops in NFL for 2022
It might be a bold statement to proclaim the Lions as ready to dominate in the trenches this season, at least one pundit said it’s not a far-fetched idea.
Geoff Schwartz, a former guard for four teams and now an analyst for Fox Sports Radio, predicted a good season for the Lions’ O-line.
“It is a good unit, and it’s kind of odd to be bad in the win column with a good offensive line,” Schwartz said in a story published February 10. “You can’t be bad. Will you automatically win 12 games, no, but with a good offensive line you’re not going to be bad. And if you’re a Lions fan, you should be happy about that.”
Beyond Decker and Sewell, the Lions have an elite center in Frank Ragnow, a Pro Bowl guard in Jonah Jackson and another guard, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who had a strong bounce-back season in 2021. Along with the depth the team has found in the likes of Evan Brown, Ryan McCollum, Matt Nelson and Tommy Kraemer, the unit appears to be in good shape.
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Lions’ Offensive Line Duo Takes Home Surprising PFF Ranking for 2022