Detroit Lions build a firm foundation through the 2021 NFL Draft
The Detroit Lions alerted the league that they will begin their rebuild when they sent Matt Stafford to the Los Angles Rams for Jared Goff, two future first-round picks, and a third-round pick. Before the trade, the Lions cleared house by firing Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn and replacing them with Saint’s TE coach Dan Campbell as head coach and Ram’s former front office member Brad Holmes as general manager. Holmes and Campbell are quickly on their way to building a foundation in Detroit.
Although rebuilds come with many potential pitfalls, one area that offers significant potential is the draft. Rebuilding allows you to take the best player available and worry about the positional value later. That is exactly what the Lions did by drafting Penei Sewell, the offensive tackle from Oregon seventh overall in the draft.
The Draft Network ranked Sewell as the second-best prospect in the 2021 draft, only behind Trevor Lawrence. While some fans might have been begging for Justin Fields with this pick, Sewell creates a foundation for the future QB of the Lions to have the ability to stand tall in the pocket for the next decade.
Bringing in Sewell also creates the chance for a really good offensive line with the highest-paid center in the league Frank Ragnow, former first-round pick Taylor Decker, last year’s third-round pick Jonah Jackson, and former Eagle lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
An old saying in football is the game is won or lost in the trenches. Clearly, the Lions are working with that mindset. While they added to their trenches on the offensive side of the ball with Sewell, they really invested in their defensive trenches on day two of the NFL Draft by selecting two DTs in Levi Onwuzurike and Alim Mcneil in rounds two and three respectively.
Onwuzurike is described as, “extremely difficult to single block,” while Mcneil is, “a powerful interior defender that is capable of controlling and resetting the line of scrimmage.”
Adding these two young defensive tackles with high upside to veterans Trey Flowers and Romeo Okwara, who tallied 10 sacks last season for the Lions, creates a great foundation in the trenches for Dan Campbell’s team.
The Detroit Lions continued to add talent on day three, grabbing multiple players that fell down draft boards. Ifeatu Melifonwu, a cornerback from Syracuse, was ranked 57th overall on The Draft Network’s big board and he slipped to round three, pick 101 overall.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown from USC was ranked 53rd overall by The Draft Network and slipped to round five, pick 112.
Fifth-round pick Derrick Barnes, LB from Purdue, was described as, “hard-nosed, physical defender with plenty of power rolled into his frame” and Detroit was able to grab him right after St. Brown at pick 113.
The Lions finished out the draft by taking Oklahoma State RB Jermar Jefferson, The Draft Network’s 112th overall prospect, 257th overall in the seventh round. You can see the trend in all of the Lions’ picks, as they were strictly picking the best player on the board. By doing so, the Lions brought in an influx of talent to a team begging for it.
Not only did the Lions draft the best player available, they clearly valued a trait. While Dan Campbell’s statement of biting kneecaps may have came off as strange, Campbell clearly values players with high motors. The Draft Network described almost every player in the Lions draft as having a high motor.
Detroit is looking to build a new culture where players are trying their hardest on every snap even if they are losing games. Building a culture within the locker room is as important as almost any aspect of building a winning NFL team.
While the 2021 NFL season may be rough for the Detroit Lions, they have built a foundation for their future and the 2021 NFL Draft class was a great first step.