It’s fitting that the closest thing the Detroit Lions have to a star is Penei Sewell, an offensive lineman who’s young, tough and talented.
Those three traits embody what the Lions have become under Dan Campbell, just as Campbell and Brad Holmes envisioned when they started rebuilding one of the NFL’s losingest franchises 30 months ago.
Sewell was the regime’s first draft pick, No. 7 overall in what’s turned out to be a whopper of a 2021 draft: QB Trevor Lawrence went No. 1, followed by WR Ja’Marr Chase (No. 5), WR Jaylen Waddle (No. 6), CB Pat Surtain (No. 9), WR DeVonta Smith (No. 10), QB Justin Fields (No. 11), LB Micah Parsons (12) and OL Rashawn Slater (No. 13). That draft was loaded with talent, and Sewell has lived up to his billing as its best lineman.
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Still just 22 years old — he turns 23 in October — Sewell was ranked the sixth-best tackle in a recent ESPN survey of anonymous league executives, and that might be low.
He’s athletic, powerful and relentless — and to hear him talk after the first padded practice of Lions training camp Friday, he’s still very much a work in progress.
“He’s a man on a mission,” Campbell said. “I feel like we’re a team on a mission, but he is a man on a mission and 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.”
Sewell wouldn’t spell it out Friday, but his mission is to be the best offensive tackle in the NFL — and to lead the Lions to similar heights.
“I want it all, man,” he said. “Individually. Team-wise. Family-wise. Anything. So, I want it all.”
The youngest starter on one of the league’s best lines, Sewell remains content to blossom in the shadows of Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow and Jonah Jackson. But he’s coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance, and in the ever-changing world of the NFL, he is on the verge of becoming the game’s best right tackle.
Philadelphia Eagles stalwart Lane Johnson ceded that distinction to Tristan Wirfs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two years ago, but Wirfs, an All-Pro in 2021 who missed part of last season with an ankle injury, is moving to left tackle this season.
“I just got to focus on myself at the end of the day,” Sewell said when asked what he needs to do to be considered the league’s premier player at his positione. “You guys decide all that stuff, but at the end of the day, it’s just me and the man in the mirror.”
When he looks in the mirror, Sewell should see one of the most gifted athletes in the NFL.
At 335 pounds, he has the foot agility of a man half his size and the power of a semi-truck. He’s a ferocious second-level blocker who Campbell once said, in all seriousness, “could be a Hall of Fame tight end.” And Sewell said Friday he came into the league “knowing that I’m something different and believing that God blessed me with different gifts than anybody else.”
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been hiccups —or that more won’t be on the way this fall.
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As a rookie, Sewell split his time between left and right tackle out of necessity because of a finger injury to Decker, and he sometimes has lapses in technique and consistency.
But for a Lions team that wants to overwhelm opponents with physical play, Sewell is the type of confident, brute force that brings others along for the ride.
“I can’t say enough great things about Sewell,” Campbell said. “I mean, he’s — there’s a reason why he was the first pick we had two years ago; it was because we wanted to build around a guy like him. He’s our foundation, man. He’s one of those pillars that we talk about.”
Sewell said he feels blessed to be the player the Lions decided to start their rebuild with three drafts ago, and there will be pressure on him to excel this fall.
The Lions won their last playoff game Jan. 5, 1992 — nearly nine years before Sewell was born. Now, they’re counting on him to help end their playoff drought.
“He’s right where he needs to be,” Campbell said. “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. So he’s shown up, he’s in shape, he’s lean, he’s mean and I’m glad he’s ours.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.