Kevin Zeitler shells out major praise for Lions' defensive front

The Detroit Lions have built one of the best offensive lines in football, if not the best. The defensive line has lagged behind, up to now at least.

The Lions figure to have a solid defensive front this season, with defensive tackle Alim McNeill likely to continue his star trajectory and DJ Reader set to join him when he returns from injury. With Aidan Hutchinson becoming one of the top edge rushers in the league, the sky could be the limit for that group.

After spending the last three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Kevin Zeitler is no stranger to practicing against a good defensive front. Coming to Detroit as a free agent this offseason, Zeitler is already encouraged by what he has seen up from the Lions' defensive line.

On Thursday, Zeitler pulled no punches to praise three members of the Lions' defensive line.

Kevin Zeitler can't hide praise for Lions' defensive lineman

"Defensive line, obviously I'm new here, so I don't know know what they all do. I only played them last year, so I am still learning that as I go. But I think we are going to have two $20-plus million dollar defensive tackles soon the way they're playing now. That's good for us on that front. Obviously, Aidan (Hutchinson) out there. Dear God. He's a wrecking ball. It's great work for us. All of us are just competing every single day to get better. They have a good day, that's great. We're going to raise our standard and compete the next day. We have a good day, they're going to get (ticked) off and they're going to come. Just constant battles every single day, every other rep. The more we see, the better we get..."

As Zeitler pointed out, tough practice battles will benefit the Lions' offensive line to elevate their own game.

Colton Pouncy of The Athletic recounted a 1-on-1 rep between Zeitler and Levi Onwuzurike during Thursday's practice, won clearly by Onwuzurike.

Zeitler clearly knows "iron sharpens iron" as the Lions battle in the trenches during practice. And it won't be a one-sided batttle anymore, if early evidence is any indication.