1. Penei Sewell, Oregon
Size: 6-6, 331
The Good: The best blocker in college football in 2019, he was one of the keys to the Rose Bowl season as he helped Justin Herbert do his Justin Herbert things.
Absolutely everything is in place to be the best blocker in the NFL, too, with a ridiculous combination of size, quickness, and the upside to be even better with a little more time logged in – he doesn’t turn 21 until early October.
More than athletic enough to handle himself against the best speed rushers, and with a massive body to generate a blast when he needs to, again, all of the things are there to create an elite left tackle who can change around the entire way your offense is set up.
The Not-So-Good: Work with me here.
Yes, he’s young and there’s room for improvement overall to go from great to otherworldly, but that’s not a given. He’s got to be a bit more of a consistent blaster and he’s not going to stay as crazy-quick as he was in his late teens.
He opted out on the 2020 season and we’re in that time of year when absence makes the scouting heart grow weirder. It’s easy to look at the guys who played last year and find the good, making Sewell a wee bit more of a wild card considering he’s so young and still maturing into his body and game. And …
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: The guy might be the second-best player in the draft.
You can’t pass up Trevor Lawrence at the 1, but Sewell has more of an upside to be a multi-year Pro Bowl talent than Zach Wilson. Nitpick all you want about the technique things to work on and some little things here and there, but go with this.
Oregon head man Mario Cristobal called Sewell the best offensive lineman he ever coached. Cristobal was Nick Saban’s offensive line coach at Alabama for four years.
Projected Round: First
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