Detroit Lions Great Day One 2021 NFL Draft Recap

Overtime Heroics Editorial

762 days ago

With day one in the books for the 2021 NFL Draft. I take a look at what the Detroit Lions did with their first pick in the draft with new general manager Brad Holmes career as they select Penei Sewell, a tackle from Oregon. Not many including myself thought there was a real chance Sewell would be there at pick seven but a run on quarterbacks early made it happen. I did have Sewell falling to the Lions in my mock draft that came out earlier this week. But thought to myself that was a pipedream.

1.7 | Detroit Lions | Penei Sewell | OT | Oregon

Sewell is a massive man whose size and strength along with his mobility are his biggest assets to the Lions. He is still very young at the age of 20 years old and was a full-time starter in the Pac-12 division at the age of 17. He will have to earn his starting role the coaching staff has already said but that is like saying Aaron Donald had to earn his. Sewell is a day one instant starts and may even be the best offensive lineman on the team from week one. Which is high praise sharing a line with pro bowler Frank Ragnow and nearing pro bowl status LT Taylor Decker.

Lions new head coach Dan Campbell said on Fox 2 “Listen, we couldn’t be more excited. As a matter of fact, we knew it right when Miami made their pick, we knew exactly what was going down. We didn’t need to worry about anything else. That was our guy.” – Via Tim Twentyman on Twitter. Campbell also was quoted saying “When you are 330 pounds and you move as he moves, and you know that he’s the second-youngest player in this draft, oh my God, the sky’s the limit.”

Draft grade: A+

If for some reason Sewell does not pan out and this is a bad pick three years from now there were no signs of it on draft day. Sewell is an easy A+ grade for me and was the number two overall player on several people’s boards who fell to the Lions at seven due to other team’s needs. Those teams will all be thanked kindly years from now as the Lions found a cornerstone of their rebuild.

One man who is definitely extremely pleased with the Detroit Lions first-round pick is their new quarterback, Jared Goff. After being forced into a move from Los Angeles to Detroit, the Lions GM made sure to make him feel welcome. If the Lions can add in some weapons for Goff then they might have a fairly competent offense in 2021.

I hope you enjoyed my article on the Detroit Lions draft, follow me on Twitter for more great content @Gullett_James. Come discuss this and much more at the Overtime Heroics forum.