During his 20-plus years in the NFL, Dan Campbell has been around some great offensive tackles. He coached All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk and three-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead in New Orleans, where he once played with two-time Pro Bowler Jermon Bushrod. He coached four-time Pro Bowler Jake Long in Miami and played with five-time Pro Bowler Flozell Adams in Dallas. He even played with seven-time Pro Bowler Lomas Brown in New York toward the end of Brown's career.
In Detroit, 21-year-old Penei Sewell is climbing Campbell's list.
"He’s impressive," Campbell said Monday. "He’s one of the better ones I’ve ever been around, that’s for sure. And he’s just a young buck.”
That's the most exciting part about Sewell's ascension this season. He has so much further to go. He's playing like one of the NFL's best offensive linemen as it is. Despite having to switch from left tackle to right tackle in training camp, then back to left tackle for the first eight games of the season, then back to right tackle for the past five games and counting.
Sewell shined in his NFL debut against Nick Bosa, then endured some rookie growing pains over the next few weeks. He's grown, alright. Since Week 6, Sewell ranks second in the NFL among offensive tackles and fourth among all offensive linemen with a Pro Football Focus grade of 90.4. He's stood his ground against Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt, with some extra snarl against the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. At tackle, only eight-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams has a better PFF grade than Sewell over the past nine weeks.
In 282 pass-blocking snaps during this stretch, Sewell has allowed two QB hits and one whole sack. Psh, he's been better in run blocking. In fact, Sewell ranks second among tackles on the season with a run-blocking grade of 88.7. Among all offensive linemen since Week 6, only Williams and four-time All-Pro Zack Martin have outdone Sewell's run-blocking grade of 92.7. The rookie is keeping some elite company.
Just as the Lions expected him to when they drafted him seventh overall.
"It's been impressive," said Campbell. "I would say that the decision to select him where we did has been a good one, a real good one, because he's gone in there and had to move from right back to left back to right, and he’s had some ups and downs, and he’s on the upward curve. He’s grown. He’s taken it. It’s what you want. Any time you don’t have success you’re going to learn from it. He’s really done that and just improved. He’s played through injury, he’s smart, he’s tough. He gives all he’s got and he’s only getting better."
Sewell had his best game of the season in the Lions' Week 14 loss to the Broncos, according to PFF. This came two weeks after he injured his shoulder on Thanksgiving and refused to miss any time. He's played every offensive snap for Detroit this season, despite also nursing an ankle injury in October. The day before the Lions' first win of the season in Week 13, Campbell said Sewell came to the coaches after being limited at practice throughout the week and told them, "I'm playing."
"There was no talking him out of it. Man, he went in there and helped us win," Campbell said the next day. "You never want a player to go in there and put himself behind or (potentially) make an injury worse. But for a guy who knows what he’s capable of, especially a young guy who's willing to go in there and just bang away and produce, it speaks volumes of this kid.”
When left tackle Taylor Decker made his season debut in Week 10, it was worth wondering how it might affect Sewell. Perhaps the Lions would be better served leaving Sewell at his natural position, where he'd starred in college and begun to find his footing in the NFL. Sewell has silenced that talk by playing just as well in his shift back to right tackle. His PFF grade of 90.3 over the past five games ranks third among tackles behind Williams and last year's 13th overall pick Tristan Wirfs and fifth among all offensive linemen.
Campbell and GM Brad Holmes lost their minds when Sewell fell to the Lions in the draft. Makes sense, now that Sewell is playing out of his.