There’s something special about a bond between quarterbacks and their left tackles. Always there to protect your blind side, a QB has to have complete and utter trust in the man flanking his left side, knowing that he isn’t going to be put into harm’s way while letting the play develop.
For former Oregon Ducks superstar Justin Herbert, there was a serious bond with Penei Sewell, arguably the top LT prospect in Thursday’s NFL draft. While Herbert has already found instant success in the pros, he is now doing his best to convince his team to grab his former college teammate, bringing Sewell to Los Angeles to play with the Chargers and be his new running mate.
“I’m doing my best. He’s an incredible player,” Herbert said, via NFL.com. “Whenever you get a tackle like that in the draft, he can change your program. Always a big fan and I’m an even bigger fan of the way he is off the field.”
The Chargers have the No. 13 pick in the draft, so it seems pretty unlikely that Sewell will fall to them naturally, as he is projected to be taken somewhere in the top 10, with the most anticipated suitor being the Cincinnati Bengals. There are other LT prospects on the board, like Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater, or USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker who could end up going before Sewell, but to see him drop all the way to No. 13 is hard to imagine.
Of course, LA could end up trading up a few spots to get Sewell, but we don’t know how much they like him as a prospect, or what they are willing to give up to get him.
Regardless, left tackle is a position of need for the Chargers, who are trying to fortify their front line in front of what looks to be a franchise player in Herbert. If they were able to grab Sewell and lock down the left side of their offensive front for years to come, it could do wonders for the development of Herbert’s career. We saw just how good those two were together at Oregon, so pairing them up for a handful of years in the NFL seems like a good idea as well.
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