After a disappointing 2025 season, the Detroit Lions are poised to get back on track in a big way this season. A soft schedule, and the arrangement of the games, will be very helpful.
Still there are questions abound, on multiple fronts, and there simply can't be clear answers until we have some meaningful games to go on.
Ted Nguyen of The Athletic has offered what he feels is the biggest question for all 32 NFL teams as Week 1 beckons.
The question Nguyen presented for the Lions has probably been below the radar more than it should be.
"Can Penei Sewell be an elite left tackle?"
"When the Lions were offensive juggernauts, it was centered on the dominance of their offensive line. Their offense lost consistency as the quality of the line dropped off. A key to their season will be how Sewell transitions to the left side after becoming an elite right tackle in the league. Sewell played left tackle in college, so it’s not completely foreign for him, but it’s not a given that he’ll be just as good as he was on the right. The Lions need difference-makers on the line and can’t afford a drop-off from Sewell."
The Lions have a lot of turnover on the offensive line after the unit struggled last season. There will be a new center, and that will go a layer deeper with Cade Mays injured and Juice Scruggs set to replace him early in the season. The left guard situation is still up in the air days away from the season opener, and rookie Blake Miller will be the starting right tackle with Sewell moving to the other side.
Penei Sewell has to make a seamless transition to left tackle
Sewell made himself into a top-10 NFL draft pick playing left tackle at Oregon. When Taylor Decker missed time to start his rookie season, his first eight NFL starts came there.
Early in the 2023 season, when Decker missed two games, Sewell moved over again to fill in. So the position is not at all foreign to him, even if having him move over to fill in for Decker went away over the last two seasons.
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Jared Goff is arguably (or maybe inarguably) the most pressure sensitive quarterback in the league. He was productive last season despite lackluster pass protection, but that has to change this year. The running game was also more inconsistent than it was in previous years, rooted in the offensive line's struggles.
Sewell is the obvious pillar of a unit that was one of the best in the league before falling off last year. Moving that pillar was natural and practically automatic with Decker gone, and by all accounts he has made the full-time move without any hiccups.
But until we see it in a game this season, there is a question Sewell has to answer and it's going to be critical to the success of the Lions' offense.
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