Detroit Lions may return top 7 OL in 2022: ‘I think we can be great’

Detroit Free Press

They don’t have a game-wrecking talent on defense like Aaron Donald or Nick Bosa, but the Detroit Lions do share one thing in common with the two participants in this week’s NFC championship game.

Like the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, the Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the NFC — a group anchored by a veteran left tackle and made even better by continuity.

The Rams’ entire starting line is in at least its third season in LA, as is swing tackle Joseph Noteboom, who started last week’s divisional win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Andrew Whitworth was out with knee and ankle injuries.

Similarly, five of the 49ers’ top six linemen are in at least their second year playing together in San Francisco, including injured right tackle Matt McGlinchey. Center Alex Mack, the lone exception, made six Pro Bowls in his first 12 NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons before signing with the 49ers as a free agent last spring.

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“I think continuity’s the biggest thing,” Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley said last month. “You talk about cohesiveness and just being together and not putting different puzzles in there, but if we can keep guys together, it’s always a better thing.”

The Lions project to have one of the NFL’s best and most stable offensive lines in 2022, when they could return their top seven players from a group that finished 13th in Pro Football Focus’ end-of-season offensive line rankings — 10 spots behind the third-place 49ers and six spots behind the Rams.

Starters Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Penei Sewell are all under contract for next season. Backup center Evan Brown will be a restricted free agent in March, and swing tackle Matt Nelson is an exclusive rights free agent.

The Lions started seven different combinations on their line this season because of injury and were without each starter for at least one game.

Ragnow missed 13 games with a toe injury that required season-ending surgery, and Decker spent the first eight weeks of the season on injured reserve after fracturing his finger in practice.

The Lions’ projected starting line did not play a single snap together this season, which is all the more reason for optimism in 2022.

Brown, Nelson and undrafted rookie guard Tommy Kraemer got valuable playing time as backups, and Brown proved to be a capable starter in the NFL.

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“That’s hats off to them as individuals and I think that’s a really big hat off to Hank Fraley,” Ragnow said. “I can’t say enough about him as a coach, how he coaches us, how he communicates, how he keeps everybody ready, he coaches everybody the same, it’s incredible, man. And it’s been great to see those guys step up and, I mean, I saw some things that we had a pretty good season running the ball this year and it’s so frustrating that I wasn’t able to be a part of it. But to see that with as much injuries as we did have up front and the different lineups, it’s great for the future.”

Brown’s future is the only one in doubt among the Lions’ top seven linemen. The Lions likely will need to use a restricted free agent tender to keep Brown in town, and even then could lose him to a team that views him as a starter.

Ragnow started running earlier this month and is expected to join the Lions for formal offseason workouts later this spring. Decker and Vaitai are established veterans who played well this season when on the field. Jackson was picked as a Pro Bowl alternate in his second NFL season. And Sewell was one of the top rookies in football this season and should be even better in Year 2.

Sewell, who started eight games at both left and right tackle as a rookie, said he expects big things from the Lions’ offensive line next season.

“I mean, I think we can be great, to be honest,” he said. “Whatever that looks like, it is what it is. I just know that all of us out there together, we can do great things and we can feed off each other and just can’t wait. Looking forward to it.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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