Brad Holmes said it. So did Dan Campbell. Entering year one of a substantial rebuild, the Lions' strongest unit is their offensive line.
Could they make it stronger in the draft? With the seventh overall pick, Detroit figures to have a shot at the top offensive tackle, Oregon's Penei Sewell.
“Nobody can do what I do in this draft in the offensive tackle rooms,” Sewell told reporters after his pro day. “I bring something totally different to the table. And I think people know that.”
Sewell played left tackle at Oregon, a position where the Lions are set through 2024 with Taylor Decker. But the future is much less certain for Detroit at right tackle. Could Sewell switch to the other side?
He's been training at right tackle (as well as left tackle) in approach of the draft, according to Ian Rapoport, and "preparing for the possibility that someone with an entrenched LT drafts him & puts him at RT for a year."
This could certainly appeal to the Lions, assuming Sewell is open to playing on the right side for more than just a year. For what it's worth, he didn't differentiate between the left side and the right side at his pro day.
His only goal, he said, is "to prove that I'm worthy to be a tackle in this league. Whatever I have to do and whatever steps that looks like, I will do it and I will accomplish it.”
The Lions have a Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle in Decker and an All-Pro center in Frank Ragnow. Jonah Jackson is entrenched at left guard and last year's big-ticket free agent Halapoulivaati Vaitai is prepared for a full-time switch to right guard. The biggest long-term question is arguably right tackle, where Tyrell Crosby feels like a placeholder more than a solution.
Now imagine a tackle-center-tackle trio of Decker-Ragnow-Sewell. That could be the foundation of one of the best offensive lines in the NFL for years to come. Now imagine what that could do for D'Andre Swift.
Will Sewell even be on the board at No. 7? Hard to say. The Bengals seem like his most likely landing spot at No. 5, but they could just as reasonably opt for one of the draft's several elite pass-catchers to pair with Joe Burrow. Neither the Falcons (No. 4) nor the Dolphins (No. 6) have glaring needs at offensive tackle. And the top three picks are sure to be quarterbacks.
So, we'll see. Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater is another name to watch for the Lions. But if Sewell is there at No. 7, Detroit will have to give him serious thought.