In the ongoing series where ESPN polls executives, coaches, and scouts from around the NFL in order to rank the top-10 players at a given position, the Detroit Lions are certainly getting their share of respect. Cornerstones of the franchise like running back Jahmyr Gibbs, edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and tight end Sam LaPorta all were listed in the top-10 at their respective positions. However, if you are familiar with my coverage of the Lions and how I feel about the game of football, you know
I was waiting on the offensive tackle rankings to drop. Especially after a certain senior writer over at ESPN decided to talk out of his neck earlier in the week.
However, despite vague and convoluted metrics like, “Pass-blocking win rates,” that leave out necessary context, there is only one king at the position—and that is Lions left tackle Penei Sewell.
“He’s still the most complete player at this stage — physical, powerful, smart,” said a veteran defensive coach of Sewell’s game.
Since entering the league back in 2021, Sewell was immediately recognized as a foundational player, and one that would be integral in the rebuild that the newly hired duo of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes were trying to pull off.
Now that he is fresh off of his third-consecutive First Team All-Pro selection, many around the league are coming around to the fact that a 25 year old is the league’s best at his position, despite 2025 not being up to Sewell’s own personal standards. And to be fair to the player, he was working through a few injuries in 2025 that appeared to bother him over the course of several weeks, before being held out of the Lions’ Week 18 win over the Chicago Bears.
”This year alone, it wasn’t my best ball. It was far from that,” said Sewell regarding his play in 2025. “It starts with me up front. I believe that I’m going to set the tone. I’m going to make plays that typically, o-linemen don’t make. This year was really a down year for me, and that’ll be on my mind.”
After taking the vast majority of snaps at right tackle since arriving in Detroit, Sewell will now make the move back to left tackle, where he won the Outland Trophy back in his sophomore season at the University of Oregon. For many players, this would likely be a cause of concern. However, with a player as special as Sewell is, those worries wash away like an early morning tide on the shores of Samoa.
“He’s been working it even being back home before we started the offseason program, once I gave him the words,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell. “So, it’ll be like riding a bike for him. Will there be things he’ll have to learn? Yeah, of course there will be. But I mean he has played left. That’s muscle memory. He played a lot of left in college and for us for those in ’21, those first few games. And he still took reps at left even over the last five years, so that’ll be seamless. That’ll be seamless. Sewell can do it all.”
One could almost say that Campbell is being “casual” about the change.
