Lions Stand Pat, Get Needed Tackle With 7th Pick

The speculation on what the Detroit Lions would do under a new general manager and coaching staff came to an end Thursday in the National Football League's Draft in Cleveland.

The Honolulu Blue stayed with the seventh overall pick and got one of their many needs with Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell. Several mock drafts tabbed the 6-foot-5, 331-pound lineman that can stabilize an already solid O-line with Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow (also first round picks). The Lions front office was ecstatic in getting their guy for first-year GM Brad Holmes.

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Sewell makes the jump to the NFL after taking the 2020 season off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He played just two seasons in Eugene, winning the Outland Trophy as the best offensive lineman in the nation as a sophomore in 2019. Sewell became the first sophomore to win the trophy and the first Polynesian (he was born in American Samoa) to take the Outland. The Oregon Ducks Twitter captured the call to Sewell from the Lions as he spent the draft with family in Utah.

Sewell, at the ripe age of 20, was excited to become a Lion according to Tim Twentyman, the senior writer for the Detroit Lions.

The Lions were quiet after making the pick as most of the action took place behind the seventh pick. The Philadelphia Eagles swapped picks with divisional rival Dallas at 10 to take Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith of Alabama. The Chicago Bears snuck in to the 11^th spot in a swap with the New York Giants (who received Chicago's 20^th)to take Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. The Dallas Cowboys with the 12^th pick tabbed Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.

In another move, the Minnesota Vikings stepped back to the 23^rd pick with the New York Jets to take Christian Darrisaw, offensive tackle of Virginia Tech.

Overall, seven players from the Big Ten were taken in the opening round, just one more than the Alabama Crimson Tide had on the first night. All five big name quarterbacks went as expected, including Clemson's Trevor Lawrence going to the Jacksonville Jaguars with the first pick. The Jags later took Lawrence's backfield teammate Travis Entienne with the 25^th pick, a pick received in their 2020 season trade for cornerback Jaylen Ramsey with the Los Angeles Rams.

The second and third rounds in Cleveland take place Friday, April 30^th, beginning at 7pm. The Lions have the ninth pick in the second round, followed by the eighth and 38^th picks in the third.