As the Detroit Lions build what they hope will become a consistent contending team, these 5 players are certified building blocks for the future.
Entering the second season for general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, the Detroit Lions are in discovery mode. As in, discovery of who will be on the roster looking ahead, past 2022 to 2023, 2024 etc. Assuming both remain in their jobs that long, of course.
The 2022 draft yielded two first-round picks who will hopefully be tone-setters and future building blocks in defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and wide receiver Jameson Williams. Time will tell if that promise is fulfilled, and it’s solely rooted in hope and expectations for both right now.
But there are certainly players who have already shown themselves to be key pieces of the future in Detroit, even after just one season under the current regime. It’s sacrilegious for Lions fans to consider, but some such “building blocks” may date back to being drafted by the previous regime of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia.
With Hutchinson and Williams perhaps displacing people on a list like this, probably with at least a season under their belts, here are five Detroit Lions players who have already proven they are future building blocks.
5 Detroit Lions who are certified future building blocks
If not for Oruwariye’s step toward stardom last year (six of the team’s 11 interceptions), the Lions’ secondary and pass defense as a whole would have been absolutely dreadful. Even with him, it wasn’t great. Oruwariye looks like a real find by the previous regime, in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, as he has actually emerged as a key player over the last two seasons (29 starts in 30 total games played).
As with many places on the defensive side of the ball, the cornerback competition is pretty wide open for the Lions–save for No. 1 guy Oruwariye, who should get (and said he wants) a multi-year deal to stay in Detroit for awhile fairly soon.
Even as the tight end market reaches new heights with every new deal someone gets, the Lions and Hockenson are line to get a multi-year deal done sooner rather than later. Picking up his fifth-year option for 2023 was a formality, and a pre-cursor/placeholder for contract talks that are presumably ongoing.
In three seasons since being taking eighth overall in the 2019 draft out of Iowa, Hockenson has a Pro Bowl selection on his resume (2020, when he led NFC tight ends in receptions) and back-to-back 60-plus catch seasons (2020 and 2021).
Hockenson has work to do to get back on track as a blocker, with a dramatic drop-off in Pro Football Focus run blocking grade from his rookie season to last year. But Campbell has cited how important he is to the Lions’ offense, while also setting some expectations.
Staying healthy will be a critical key for Hockenson this year, after missing the final five games last year. But almost by default as much as his talent level, with that multi-year deal coming, he’s a future building block for the Lions.
Over the closing stretch of last season, St. Brown was one of the most productive pass catchers in the NFL. The changes to the Lions’ offense after the bye week, with Campbell taking over play calling and tight ends coach (and now offensive coordinator) Ben Johnson moving into a bigger role, seemed to be a driving force for him being used more along the line of his skill set with some imagination mixed in.
St. Brown got attention during last year’s offseason work for his work ethic, and it eventually paid off late in his rookie season as circumstances (Hockenson and D’Andre Swift being out) pushed him into a big role. He’s clearly wired like a leader, and he has been open about keeping tabs on the plethora of wide receivers who were drafted before him.
Even with the wide receivers the Lions added around him this offseason, and the prospect of better health for Hockenson and Swift, St. Brown will still be a prominent piece of the Lions’ offense in 2022, and until further notice. Talent and mentality makes him an easy future building block in Detroit.
The 2021 season will go down as mostly a lost one for Ragnow, as he missed all but four games with a toe injury. But he is still regarded as one of the best centers in the NFL looking to this year, with Pro Football Focus grades that are trending up over the last three seasons.
Coming off his Pro Bowl selection in 2020, in May 2021, the Lions made Ragnow one of the highest-paid centers in the league with a four-year, $54 million contract extension. That deal, tacked on to his rookie deal as a first-round pick, keeps him technically under contract in Detroit through the 2026 season.
The Lions have committed to building one of the best offensive lines in the league, with three first-round picks and another apparent find (left guard Jonah Jackson) who went to the Pro Bowl as an alternate last year.
Ragnow has a case for No. 1 on this list, and almost got the honor. The man who’ll man the middle of the Detroit offensive line for years to come just turned 26 in May. So he may not be going anywhere for a long while, even once his contract extension would be set to expire as-is right now.
Sewell opted out of his last season at Oregon in 2020 due to COVID-19, which presented its own challenge as he entered the NFL last year. Then he learned a new position during OTAs and training camp (right tackle), with Taylor Decker holding down the fort at left tackle for the Lions. Then, when Decker was sidelined by a finger injury heading into Week 1, Sewell moved to Jared Goff’s blindside and was thrown right into the fire against 49ers’ defensive end Nick Bosa.
Sewell eventually moved back to right tackle when Decker returned to action after missing eight games. Particularly as a run blocker but overall as well, per Pro Football Focus grade if not otherwise, Sewell was regarded as one of the best right tackles in the league.
Sewell has focused on getting stronger this offseason, and his own review of his rookie season was a little harsh all things consider. But he won’t even turn 22 until the early part of the coming season (Oct. 9).
Decker has three years left on his contract, with 2025 tacked on as a void year. So at some point in the future Sewell may become the Lions’ left tackle. But even if he stays on the right side, he’s not going anywhere for a long, long time.