After his first padded practice with the Lions, Alim McNeill walked off the field with blood on his jersey and a smile on his face. He had spent the morning sparring with All-Pro center Frank Ragnow, who called the rookie defensive tackle surprisingly "twitchy for how big he is." McNeill deemed it an honest day's work of "being physical, getting hands on people, doing my job."
"There are some things I need to work on," he said, "but I was definitely not scared out there or anything."
As McNeill recalls, he wasn't the only rookie who rose to the challenge when the pads came on three yeas ago. He said he "knew something was a little crazy about our class" after he saw Amon-Ra St. Brown hurdle Jeff Okudah in a one-on-one tackling drill -- "I swear it was our first padded practice," he said -- and Penei Sewell get down to business on the other side of the line "and then I feel like I did pretty good against Frank that day."
"So I was like, ‘OK, we might have a little something going,’ and then look where the class is now," said McNeill. "Penei and Amon-Ra, those guys are elite, superstars. So I just feel like it was a solid class."
That's putting it lightly. After McNeill signed a four-year, $97 million extension with the Lions on Tuesday following even bigger paydays this offseason for Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell, Detroit's first draft class under Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell is trending toward being the best in franchise history. That's without mentioning Levi Onwuzurike and Derrick Barnes, who have grown into prominent roles on defense, though Barnes is likely out for the season with a knee injury.
Sewell broke into a smile Wednesday thinking back to that first practice. After opting out of his final season at Oregon, he had been itching to get after it. He remembers a particular run drill where "it was one-on-one and I just came off the ball running and got like, five yards of displacement. And I was like, 'Oh yeah, now we’re back.'" Asked when he sensed the Lions' 2021 draft class was special, Sewell said, "I think it was that same day."
"The moment we put on the pads, I remember watching Alim move around and he was just one of the most athletic humans I’ve ever been around, to be honest. Just the way he could run and just turn his body, too. The way he can play defensive line, get skinny, and also be physical against the run. Yeah, no, that day was crazy," said Sewell. "I think we all found out early that we have the potential of doing something big."
Sewell and St. Brown were first-team All-Pros last season. McNeill was making a case for his first Pro Bowl nod before a knee injury in December. The trio played a crucial role in helping the Lions win their first playoff game in more than 30 years and reach the NFC title game. Now they're secured in Detroit through at least 2028. As Campbell put it, McNeill is another "one of our pillars here, no different than these guys that we’ve signed back, so we’re fired up for him."
McNeill, whose deal included $55 million gauranteed and will make him the fourth highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL, said, "I’m so glad it got done. I’m so glad that I can be here. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a weight off my shoulders, for sure. I’m just extremely thankful, I appreciate the organization and everyone that’s in that decision."
The Lions continue to send a strong message to their locker room. Including Jared Goff, Taylor Decker and David Montgomery, they've spent about $620 million on their own players since the end of last season. To McNeill, the equation is simple: "You come in here, do what you’re supposed to do, do your job to your fullest extent, they just show that loyalty and that love to their guys."
"They’re rewarding the right guys," said Goff, "and that’s what good teams do. It (tells) everyone else in the locker room like, ‘Hey, you want to make a ton of money like these guys? Just watch these guys practice. Watch St. Brown, watch Penei, all these guys. Just watch them work.’ It’s an easy thing for them to do upstairs, I’m sure, to reward the right guys, but it also feels good for us in the locker room.”
Goff, who just turned 30, smiled and said he feels "like an old guy" having seen "Alim kind of grow up." McNeill was a 21-year-old nose tackle weighing 330 pounds when he arrived in Detroit. Now he's a muscular 315 lining up over guards. Asked where he's seen McNeill develop the most, Goff said, "Oh man, every day at practice is a challenge against him. You’d have to ask those guys up front, they get it up close and personal."
Graham Glasgow, your thoughts?
"I feel like Alim when I got here was a different player than I had seen in the past," Glasgow said. "The first two years (of his career), he was a little bit heavier. The first year we played when I was in Denver, I was hurt at the time, but I think he played nose. Coming here and seeing how much he improved, and I think he had lost some weight, he’s an amazing player.
"Between him and Penei and Saint, all those guys who have ended up getting paid a lot of money, not only have they deserved it, but they’re just awesome people and very humble when it comes to putting in the work."
McNeill, 24, made major changes to his diet ahead of last season and cut 13 percent body fat. Then he started shedding blocks like wasted weight. He helped the Lions build a wall against the run, while putting more pressure than ever on the passer. By the end of the year, McNeill was talking about "biting people's faces off" on defense. He finished sixth in the NFL among interior defenders, per Pro Football Focus.
Sewell established himself as a pillar for the Lions in 2021, St. Brown in 2022. McNeill said he felt like that for the first time last year.
"Because my first two years, me personally, I didn’t like, production-wise and all that. That’s why I went and made all the changes that I did," he said. "Last year I was actually a part of the team because I was doing something, I was producing. But I never really thought about it like that, called myself a pillar or anything. I just came in and did my job. I guess last year, you could say, I started feeling more important to the team and my production and everything mattered."
His production matters now more than ever. With Aidan Hutchinson done for the season, the defensive line needs to raise its collective level. McNeill is coming off his best game of the season in the Lions' rout of the Cowboys, with two sacks and a handful of quarterback pressures. And now he's one of the NFL's highest-paid players at his position. There's an expectation that comes with that, "but for me as a person," said McNeill, "it remains the same."
"I’m going to come in here every day and work like I did beforehand," he said.
The 2021 NFL Draft has produced five first-team All-Pros. The Lions have two of them in Sewell and St. Brown, and another star on the rise in McNeill. They are the only team to have extended three players from that class. The trio will cost the Lions about $330 million over the next several years, and try to repay them in a championship.
"We came into the league together, we've grown into our roles together," said Sewell. "So just seeing where we were when we came in and where are now, man, it’s just a great feeling."