Tag: Penei Sewell

Chargers OT Rashawn Slater not focused on possible contract extension

Will Rashawn Slater secure a new contract ahead of the upcoming season, or will the team adopt a wait-and-see approach?

Rashawn Slater has proven to be one of the top offensive tackles in the league, and he is due to get paid like one.

However, Slater isn’t currently focused on a potential contract extension.

“Honestly, I’m just focused on the season right now,” Slater said on Thursday.

The question came after two other tackles in his draft class – Lions’ Penei Sewell and Vikings’ Christian Darrisaw – recently got paid high-end money.

The Chargers picked up Slater’s fifth-year option, keeping him under contract through 2025.

Slater made his mark in his rookie season, earning All-Pro recognition. Unfortunately, his sophomore season was cut short by a torn biceps injury. However, he didn’t let this setback define him. Slater returned to the field and started all regular-season games in 2023, allowing just three sacks and 38 pressures on 726 pass-block snaps.

Entering his fourth season, Slater will be the staple of the Chargers’ offensive line, which will be a focal point as they look to build a prolific rushing attack.

Despite his undeniable worth, the question of Slater’s contract remains open. Will he secure a new contract ahead of the upcoming season, or will the team adopt a wait-and-see approach, evaluating his performance in the new offense?

Lions rank high in ESPN’s future power rankings

Lions rank high in ESPN’s future power rankings

The Detroit Lions are in a championship window following their run to the NFC Championship Game in 2023. Their 2024 prospects are high among those in the media. But what about after 2024? Are the Lions set to keep their championship aspirations?

ESPN seems to think so based on their recent future power rankings based on rosters, coaching staff and front office.

The Lions checked in at No. 4 on the list.

Reason for hope: The Lions may eventually lose offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to a head coaching job, but it hasn’t happened yet — which is selfishly good for Dan Campbell and Detroit’s offense. The team spent a lot this offseason, but it now has key players (including receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and offensive tackle Penei Sewell) secured for the long term. And the culture that Campbell has built here has already resulted in an NFC Championship Game appearance and has the arrow pointing up. — Dan Graziano

There were some concerns brought up, too,

Reason for concern: General manager Brad Holmes did everything he could to fix a secondary that gave up way too many explosive plays last season, and Terrion Arnold and Carlton Davis III will make an impact there. But I still have many doubts about which pass rusher will support third-year defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. Hutch has 21 sacks over his first two seasons combined but has had little help. Detroit was 27th in PRWR in 2023, and Marcus Davenport (signed this offseason) has never played a full season in his six-year career, so I’m not counting on the production to come from him. — Louis Riddick

Nugget to know: Last season, the Lions were the fourth-youngest defense in the NFL based on snap-weighted age (25.5). This year, they project to be the youngest defense based on the average age of the 12 starters (including both base and nickel defenses) at 25.3. Linebacker Alex Anzalone is the only projected starter over 28, and four projected starters are still under 24. — Aaron Schatz

Not only are the Lions very high on this list and already in the Super Bowl mix, they are the highest ranked NFC team. The Philadelphia Eagles came in right behind the Lions at No. 5 with the San Francisco 49ers at No. 7.

The Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills were the only teams ranked above the Lions.

Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell were signed to extensions this offseason as the Lions kept some of the core of their roster locked up for the next few years during their Super Bowl window.

The window is open and the future is bright in Detroit.

Penei Sewell is the most valuable offensive tackle over past two seasons

Lions star Penei Sewell is the most valuable offensive tackle over past two seasons in PFF grading

When looking at Pro Football Focus (PFF), there’s a bunch of tools, data and analytics that help paint a picture on how good players in the NFL are at their position. These tools help rank these players by position and overall groupings.

For Penei Sewell, he’s been one of the highest ranked offensive tackles since he entered the league in 2021. According to PFF, Sewell earned a 93.1 PFF run-blocking grade — one of the best single-season marks of the past 18 seasons.

Meanwhile, he only allowed one sack in pass protection last season. Over the last two seasons, Sewell has been the highest rated offensive tackle according to the PFF WAR Data over the last two seasons. The PFF WAR data helps determine the following on a player:

  • Positional Value
  • Stability
  • What to expect moving forward

Looking at the PFF WAR for other offensive tackles selected in the 2021 NFL Draft, Sewell has been the highest ranked tackle to this point. Penei Sewell has a WAR of 1.24. Meanwhile, Christian Darrisaw has a WAR of 0.78 and Rashawn Slater is at 0.72 for his WAR.

Overall, Sewell is ranked as the 28th player in the PFF Top-50 players list for last season. He wasn’t ranked higher than Lane Johnson or Tristan Wirfs but regardless, PFF still recognizes Sewell as one of the best tackles in football. At 23-years old, there’s no doubt that we’re witnessing not just one of the best tackles in football but one of the best players in football. For more on the PFF Top-50 for 2024, you can check out the list here!

The Detroit Lions offensive line is top-ranked unit going into 2024 season

The Detroit Lions offensive line is top-ranked unit going into 2024 season as more national outlets keep ranking the Lions No. 1

It should come to no surprise that the Detroit Lions have the top ranked offensive line going into the 2024 season. When looking at rankings compiled by both Sharp Football Analysis and Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Lions offensive line is at the top spot for both data sites.

Looking at Sharp Football, they’ve got the Lions ranked number one with the following reasoning behind it:

“The Lions signed 12-year veteran Kevin Zeitler in the offseason to replace Jonah Jackson on their offensive line. Zeitler is coming off his first Pro Bowl season and will join a unit that we ranked No. 1 in the NFL. Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker both ranked in the top 10 in ESPN’s pass block win rate while guard Graham Glasgow finished second in run block win rate.”

As for Pro Football Focus, they had this to say about the Lions offensive line:

“When healthy, the Lions’ offensive line was arguably the best unit in the NFL last season. Right tackle Penei Sewell was the league’s highest-graded offensive lineman, and Frank Ragnow earned the top spot among centers. Although the unit lost right guard Jonah Jackson in free agency, the Lions signed veteran guard Kevin Zeitler, who ranked 15th in PFF grade among guards in 2023.”

Additionally, the PFF article shows the offensive grades for the Lions offensive line. It shows the following:

LT: Taylor Decker — 81.1 (9th out of 81 offensive tackles ranked)

LG: Graham Glasgow — 74.9 (8th out of 79 offensive guards ranked)

C: Frank Ragnow — 88.8 (1st out of 36 centers ranked)

RG: Kevin Zeitler — 71.6 (15th out of 79 offensive guards ranked)

RT: Penei Sewell — 92.8 (1st out of 81 offensive tackles ranked)

Having the top ranked offensive tackle and center in the NFL shows up on tape every single week for the Lions. It’ll be interesting to see if the Lions can maintain this top spot all season long. With the addition of Kevin Zeitler and draft capital spent on the offensive line, it appears likely for the Detroit Lions to be dominant in the trenches once again.

Jahymr Gibbs rookie season film review

Jahymr Gibbs rookie season film review from Lions Wire’s Russell Brown reveals a dynamic building block for the Detroit Lions offense

When the Detroit Lions were on the clock with the 6th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, they made a surprising move to trade down. This gave them the 12th overall pick and the 34th overall pick that they used to select tight end Sam LaPorta. However, they surprised everyone by selecting running back Jahmyr Gibbs out of Alabama with the 12th overall pick.

Some called it careless, and others called it clueless. It’s only been one season, but the tune towards the Jahmyr Gibbs selection has changed. It’s changed so much that some would call them geniuses.

After 15 games played as a rookie, Gibbs compiled 945 rushing yards on 182 carries and this led to 10 rushing touchdowns. Additionally, Gibbs was able to record 52 receptions for 316 yards and a touchdown.

It’s been evident that the Lions have wanted a split backfield under Dan Campbell and while they feed David Montgomery plenty of carries, that doesn’t change the way Gibbs can impact a game. Let’s dive into some film to review the rookie season from Gibbs and how impactful he really is for the Detroit Lions offense.

Now it’s extremely difficult to pick which plays to highlight from Gibbs’ first season in the NFL. That said, I picked 3 plays through my summer re-watch on his film to highlight for this article.

The first play I want to highlight is from week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings. For Detroit, they come out with their ’11’ personnel (one running back and one tight end), but they’re aligned with a condensed set on both sides of the formation.

Prior to the snap, Jared Goff sends Kalif Raymond on an exit motion to the left of the formation. Post-snap, Amon-Ra St. Brown runs underneath the line of scrimmage (LOS) and as you can see Vikings safety Harrison Smith is aligned in man coverage and goes into a full-out sprint in the same direction as St. Brown.

While this play looks like it could lead to a potential play-action pass with St. Brown spilling out to the flats, this play is a designed run. With a great combo block between Frank Ragnow and Graham Glasgow on the right side, there’s also a good kick out by Penei Sewell. As Gibbs gets the football, he follows his blockers and while he slightly hesitates, it looks like he has nowhere to go but that’s all by design.

Gibbs shows his ability to start and stop while being able to run through initial contact. The burst to get the edge and upfield gets put on display and all of this contributes to him scoring one of his two touchdowns from this game.

The next play I want to highlight is certainly a tip of the hat to the Lions offensive line. For starters, we all need to give kudos to Frank Ragnow for his ability to peel off his combo block and pick up the blitzing inside linebacker. As you can see, his body may be positioned full to the right but his head is inside and all eyes are on that linebacker.

Next, look at Penei Sewell going toe-to-toe with Joey Bosa on the right side. While Bosa gets turned around, this gives a slight opening for Gibbs and look at how explosive he is once he makes his way through the hole.

While this run is credited to excellent blocking, it’s also impressive to see Gibbs play with little hesitation on this run. As I mentioned, he puts his explosiveness and speed on display and it’s the type of play that helps set the tone.

This is one of those runs where the defense gets back to their huddle and each player has an internal conversation that they’ve got to buckle up or they’re in for a long day. Unfortunately for the Chargers, it was a long day as they gave up 200 rushing yards, 41 points and over 530 total yards.

Lastly, I want to look at how Gibbs can be a mismatch machine. For starters, if he gets a linebacker aligned over the top of him, there’s a good chance he’ll find a way to get open. He may only beat that linebacker by one step, but if he gets open, that’s all that matters.

Looking at the play above, the Lions come out with a trips right formation. Out of the backfield, you’ll see Gibbs run a speed out against the linebacker. With how shifty and explosive he can be, you’ll notice the linebacker get flat-footed and stop in preparation of Gibbs breaking the route off inside.

This gives Gibbs plenty of separation and Goff delivers a good ball to him for the first down. Even though he only averaged 2.43 yards per carry in this game, Gibbs did have 7 receptions for 39 yards in this game.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a strong rookie season for Jahmyr Gibbs, and it appears that he could take an even bigger step this season. While he does split backfield duties with David Montgomery, the play making ability from Gibbs is electric. That showed once he started to get settled into the Lions offense and into the NFL. From week 7 through week 17, he recorded 766 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.

During the Lions playoff run, he scored in every single game and averaged 4.97 yards per carry. According to Player Profiler, Gibbs had a 8.2% breakaway run rate last season and that was second best in the NFL. Meanwhile, he evaded 56 tackles last season (3.7 per game) and that was ranked 13th in the NFL.

Whether you’re for or against taking a running back in the first round, one thing is for sure, Jahmyr Gibbs looks worthy of being selected there. He’s a difference maker with the football in his hands and it feels like he can score at any moment. Look for him to take more than just a step forward this season.

Penei Sewell was the only offensive tackle to accomplish this feat last season

Lions standout Penei Sewell was the only offensive tackle to accomplish this pass protection feat last season

In 2021, the Detroit Lions sprinted to the podium to select Penei Sewell with the 7th overall pick. Since then, he’s become a foundational piece to the Lions franchise.

He’s played and started in 50 games in his career and was only inactive for the last regular season game of his rookie season. With that, Sewell has been voted to the Pro Bowl twice in his career (2022 and 2023) and last season he earned First-Team All-Pro Honors.

Adding to this, Sewell was the only offensive tackle to accomplish a rare feat in the NFL last season. According to data compiled by The 33rd Team, Sewell was the only OT last season to allow less than 20 pressures while having over 500 pass-blocking snaps.

In addition to that data, he was PFF’s highest-graded offensive tackle in the NFL last season. He also led all tackles in total snap count across the regular season and playoffs. He only committed seven penalties and only allowed one sack.

This has helped Sewell earn a four-year contract extension with the Lions that is worth $112 million dollars. The contract makes him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history and keeps him in Detroit through the 2029 season. Rank him where you want but for my money, he’s the best right tackle in football.

Where Ravens’ Ronnie Stanley landed in a PFF ranking of the Top 32 offensive tackles

Baltimore Ravens veteran Ronnie Stanley landed at No. 20 in a PFF ranking of the top 32 NFL offensive tackles

Ronnie Stanley is back in Baltimore in what could be his final season with the Ravens after the team created upward of $8 million in salary cap space by reworking the veteran left tackle contract.

With the move, Baltimore significantly reduced his $26.2M cap hit, the second-largest on the team behind Lamar Jackson.

It also ensured that Stanley returned to the Ravens for his ninth NFL season.

Stanley has moments when he was considered by some to be one of the best at his position, but his reputation and production have decreased over the past few seasons due to poor play and injury. PFF released their annual offensive tackle rankings, and former Ravens and current Jets right tackle Morgan Moses (18th) landed higher on the list than Stanley.

20. RONNIE STANLEY, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Stanley’s best years seem to be behind him. He has not played more than 900 snaps in a season since 2019 and has not earned a PFF grade over 71.0 in any of his last three seasons. However, when he’s healthy, the Notre Dame product can still be a solid pass protector for stretches. In fact, his 2023 pass-blocking grade of 75.9 ranked 22nd among offensive tackles.

The talented offensive tackle has started every game since he was a rookie in 2016 and has dealt with injuries since 2019. He played seven games between the 2020 and 2021 seasons and missed five in 2022.

In 2023, Stanley missed four games, dealt with injuries throughout this season, and spent the final stretch on a pitch count.

When Stanley is healthy, he’s a solid player but hasn’t been a Pro Bowler or All-Pro player since 2019.

In 2023, Stanley finished 37th in PFF’s overall grades, 22nd in pass blocking, and 41st in run blocking behind backup Patrick Mekari (who filled in for both tackles as needed).

PFF’s offensive tackle rankings: Where does Rashawn Slater rank among top 10?

Rashawn Slater has established himself as a top tackle, where exactly does he rank?

It didn’t take long for Rashawn Slater to establish himself as one of the top offensive tackles in the NFL, earning All-Pro honors as a rookie.

Entering Year 4, where does he rank among the other players at his position? According to Pro Football Focus, Slater is the No. 9 overall tackle.

After missing almost the entire 2022 season, Slater came back strong in 2023 and played nearly as well as he did during his standout rookie season, especially when it came to pass protection. In fact, his 84.7 pass-blocking grade marked a career-high and ranked fifth among players at the position.

On the other hand, his 59.5 run-blocking grade ranked just 48th, which shows that the young player still has room for improvement.

After missing most of the 2022 season with a torn biceps, Slater returned and started all regular-season games in 2023. Upon returning to the field, he was prolific in the pass-blocking department, allowing just 38 pressures on 726 pass-block snaps.

Along with continuing to be a dominant force at protecting Justin Herbert’s blindside, it’s imperative that he returns to form as a run blocker, something he was sharp at in his first two seasons, especially as the offense will take a run-heavy approach.

Herbert, Nix listed among NFL’s 100 most important players for 2024

Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, and Penei Sewell all listed as most important players for the 2024 NFL season.

Over the past several years, the NFL has been sprinkled with some great talent provided by the Oregon Duck football program. Perhaps more than ever before.

Now here in 2024, there are more Ducks in the NFL than ever before and there are a few that CBS Sports says that are the most important players for the NFL season.

First among the list, and not surprisingly, is Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. CBS Sports says that while the Chiefs are going to be overwhelming favorites to win what they call a weak AFC West division, Herbert, with new coach Jim Harbaugh, has the best chance to challenge the defending Super Bowl champs.

While that’s not a shocking development, the most recent Oregon quarterback to enter the league, Bo Nix, is the listed as the No. 7 most important player in the NFL and he hasn’t even played a down for the Denver Broncos yet.

In Denver, the Broncos are firmly Sean Payton’s team after he got rid of his last quarterback and drafted Bo Nix 12th. Payton favors a precise, on-time attack, which Nix thrived in at Oregon, so the fit in theory works. But in theory and on field in are very different. — Zachary Pereles

Detroit Lions offensive lineman Penei Sewell was also mentioned as he received a big contract this offseason. They came within a game of being in the Super Bowl for the first time and the Lions should be in the running for the title game once again.

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Eagles have one player make a PFF ranking of top 25 players under 25 entering 2024

The Philadelphia Eagles had Jalen Carter make a list of PFF ranking of the top 25 players under 25

The Eagles have one of the NFL’s youngest rosters, but they still lack elite talent under the age of 25. That could change next spring after the team added Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

PFF released their annual ranking of the top 25 players under 25 entering the 2024 NFL season, and the Birds had one player make the list.

22. DI JALEN CARTER, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Off-field issues likely led to Carter sliding in the 2023 NFL Draft as the ninth-overall pick, because on the field he was among the better players at his position from Week 1.

Carter picked up nine quarterback pressures in his very first game against the Patriots, which was tied for the second most in an outing by a rookie all season. In the end, he earned an 87.4 PFF overall grade, which ranked sixth among interior defenders.

Last season, Carter got off to a blistering hot start.

Through Week 9, Carter had generated 29 pressures (tied for eighth in the league among interior defensive linemen) according to Pro Football Focus, including four sacks and 20 hurries.

A Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist, Carter started just one game and played 51 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, but the ninth overall pick in the 2023 Draft was third on the team in sacks and fifth among all rookies.

During the first half of last season, Carter was dominant while playing 49% of the defensive snaps (despite missing Week 6 against the New York Jets with an injury), second among Eagles defensive tackles behind only Fletcher Cox.

His production fell off down the stretch.

Carter finished his rookie year with 6.0 sacks, 33 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery (which he returned for a touchdown) in 16 regular-season games.