​Though Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell was ranked the best overall player at his position by some measures, not everyone agrees with that assessment. ESPN NFL Insider Mike Clay offered a notably different view, listing Sewell as the 10th-best NFL player at the left tackle position and rating the Lions’ offensive line as the 19th strongest unit in the 32-team league.
Aware of the inevitable fan reaction, Clay took to social media to push back on the consensus. “Lions fans big mad but Sewell was 36th percentile in pass block win rate last season,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He still rates very well, but that’s enough to knock his rating enough to put him behind a few guys at one of the most competitive positions (LT).” He added, “Half of the analysis seems to agree with PBWR, which is interesting. A friendly reminder that the ratings on the chart are not my opinion – they’re a compilation of pass and rush win rates, PFF grade, draft capital, and playing time. Always open to suggestions on good, objective measures for OL evaluation. Bring it!”
Even with Clay’s objections, Sewell topped a recent ESPN ranking of the best players at each position. “Sewell took the top spot with consistency in the voting,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said of Sewell. “Though he didn’t dominate the first-place voting, he was living in the second- and third-place range, which improved his average in the composite total. And one NFC executive was blunt when describing Sewell’s strengths as a player.” Fowler noted that Sewell’s 89.6% pass block win rate last season landed outside the top 40 among all offensive tackles, marking his lowest figure since his 2021 rookie year. He also pointed out that Sewell is transitioning from right tackle to left tackle this season, a move to watch closely.
The Lions plan to shift Sewell to the left side to fill the gap at left tackle following Taylor Decker’s departure from Detroit. Head coach Dan Campbell expressed confidence in Sewell’s ability to handle the switch, suggesting the transition would feel natural. “Good. He’s over there, he’s been really since — he’s been working it even being back home before we started offseason, once I gave him the word,” Campbell said. “So, it’ll be like riding a bike for him. Will it be things he’ll have to learn? Yeah, of course there will be. But I mean, he has played left. That’s muscle memory. He played a lot of left in college and for us in ’21, those first few games. And he still took reps at left even over the last five years, so that’ll be seamless. Sewell can do it all.”