Roster preview: Penei Sewell is the heartbeat of the team

Penei Sewell may already be the league’s best tackle, and yet he still has room to improve his game.

Our 2024 Detroit LIons roster preview series rolls on with the best player on the roster, and in my opinion, one of the best players in the entire league: right tackle Penei Sewell.

After only three years, Sewell has quickly established himself as one of, if not the best tackle in the entire NFL. Let’s take a look at how year three played out for Sewell, and what may be on the table for the star in 2024.

Previous previews: WR Kalif Raymond, TE Sam LaPorta, TE James Mitchell, LT Taylor Decker, DE Aidan Hutchinson, DT DJ Reader, DT Alim McNeill, LB Alex Anzalone, DB Brian Branch, S Ifeatu Melifonwu

Penei Sewell

Expectations for 2023

Since entering the league after being drafted seventh overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Sewell has been that guy. Even with all of the ready-made talent entering the league on a yearly basis, rarely can you say a player belonged from the jump, but that was certainly the case for Sewell. It makes even more sense when you remember that he started as a true 17-year-old freshman at the University of Oregon.

After moving around from left tackle to right tackle in his rookie year due to injuries, Sewell seemed to really settle into the right side in 2022. To put it simply, Sewell is a huge part of everything that coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have been trying to accomplish since they got here and began turning things around in 2021.

“I can’t say enough great things about Sewell,” Campbell said of his superstar tackle. “There’s a reason he was the first pick we had two years ago because we wanted to build around a guy like him. He’s our foundation. He’s one of those pillars that we talk about. He’s something else. He’s a man on a mission. I feel like we’re a team on a mission, but he is a man on a mission. You talk about being wired right, a guy that comes in every day, puts in the work, and he’s got so much ability but he’s got the right attitude, too, and I think that’s what makes him dangerous if you’re the opponent. So he’s right where he needs to be. If he loses, it bothers him bad, and that’s what you want. You want a guy who believes that there’s no way he should lose any rep no matter who he’s playing. He’s shown up, he’s in shape, he’s lean, he’s mean and I’m glad he’s ours.”

It’s pretty wild that Sewell was still just 22 years old headed into the 2023 season and already considered one of the game’s best at his respective position. But those are some of the things that can happen when you are a true once-in-a-generation type of athlete.

Actual role in 2023

Note: Stats are for regular season only unless otherwise stated

20 games (20 starts): 1,379 offensive snaps (100%)
Stats: Per PFF – 1 sack allowed, 5 hits, 20 total pressures
PFF offensive grade: 90.7 (1st among 89 tackles with a minimum of 20% snaps played)
PFF run blocking grade: 93.1 (1st out of 89)
PFF pass blocking grade: 78.1 (t-17th out of 89)
Awards: Pro Bowl, First-Team All-Pro

As we just finished discussing, expectations for Sewell were sky-high in 2023. Although, apparently not high enough, as the third-year pro took his game to a whole new level. He was on the field for every single one of the offense’s snaps, and his impact could be felt at all times.

In pass protection, you could clearly see experience beginning to pay off for Sewell. NFL-caliber pass rushers are some of the best athletes on the planet, and sometimes it takes seeing someone in person to get a true feeling of what they bring to the table.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like he was bad at protecting the quarterback in 2022, and I think his 74.2 pass blocking grade from PFF reflects that. But when you watch the 2023 tape, you can see a more comfortable player at work. Gone were those reps where Sewell seemed surprised by what his assignment pulled out of their pass-rush bag. Instead, you saw a sensational athlete begin to really dial in his technique and process. From his pass sets to his hand placement, everything about Sewell’s game got cleaner and more refined in 2023.

It’s not often that you have play-callers building portions of the offense around an offensive lineman, but that is what you began to see with Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Whether it was stacking Sewell on the left side of the line next to left tackle Taylor Decker, sending him in motion towards the play-side of formation—the things Johnson was doing with the third-year tackle were pretty devious. Like a basketball coach trying to create a favorable matchup for his player and team.

“I’ll tell you that right now, there’s so much that he’s capable of, and he’s still growing,” Johnson said of Sewell ahead of the 2023 NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. “That’s the crazy thing, he’s still learning, he’s still growing, and when we face a defense like this, I’m not saying that we’re not worried about the edges because we are, we certainly are. But it helps you sleep a little bit better at night knowing that some of their best players are going against some of your best players as well.”

Combine that creativity with the rest of the Lions’ talented offensive line and ball-carriers, and you begin to understand why this offense was one of the league’s best in 2023. On top of his on-field play that ended up earning him first-team All-Pro honors, Sewell picked up right where he left off in 2022, establishing himself as one of the unquestioned leaders of the team.

“But really, where I’ve seen the most growth is the leadership factor,” said Johnson. “You see guys looking to him now. He is a tone-setter for us here on offense. And really, I would say him for the offensive line and then (Amon-Ra) St. Brown at the skill positions. Those two guys with how they play, fearless, aggressive mentality, they’re not going to back down to anything. Really, those two guys are what we’re all about on offense.”

Outlook for 2024

World domination? Maybe I am kidding there, but also, maybe not?

On a more serious note, I firmly believe Sewell is already the best offensive lineman in all of football, and his run of being named an All-Pro is hopefully just beginning. Heading into year four, we should see Sewell’s game take another big step—as scary as that might be to contemplate for opponents of the Lions.

I expect his pass blocking to improve even more in year four. Ask any tackle around the league and most will tell you that time on task is one of the biggest things for a young player. As I mentioned before, you can study someone like Myles Garrett or Micah Parsons all day on tape, but until you see their game in person, it’s tough to really get a beat on what they are bringing to the table as a rusher. And with three years of experience on task now under his belt, Sewell has seen just about everything the league has to offer.

Earlier in the offseason, the Lions signed Sewell to a record-setting four-year extension that will keep the star in Detroit for the next six years. This was always the vision for this regime when they got here in Detroit. That night when Brad Holmes sent a pen into orbit once Sewell slid to the Lions at seven overall was the very beginning of what they hoped would be a lot of change within the organization. Someone that would be a foundational pillar of what they would go on to build.

From breaking down the team pre-game and assuming even more of a leadership role, this is now Sewell’s team. From the time the season ended in San Francisco to when he signed his new extension, you saw why the Lions’ brass looks at Sewell the way they do.

“We need it all,” Sewell said of the team’s 2024 goals. “I had a conversation with (Amon-Ra) Saint (Brown) after we found out that we were getting the contracts and going to sign, that’s our goal is to host that trophy at the end of the day and to just do that. Just to win, bro. There’s nothing else to it. All those individual accolades don’t mean nothing. I want the big boy and I want it now.”