He's Been Lionized

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He’s only 20 years old, played only 1 1/2 college seasons, then sat out a year--rust never sleeps…  B)    He should have stayed in school! 

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Arm length "might" also be a factor in why the Lions moved him to RT.  
I know pre-draft analyst picked arm length apart with most of the OT's - like AVT being clearly a Guard.  But Slater arms are 33 vs Darisaw's at 34 1/4 and that is a decent difference.  
I was/am still a huge fan of the Darrisaw pick (no revisionists history from me) and his arm length was a factor for me putting him slightly above Slater in this draft.  That said, Slater has had a great preseason by all accounts while Darrisaw's arm length has not been a factor






Darrisaw has arms that are an entire inch longer than Sewell and 1 and 1/4” longer than Slater’s. This isn’t the biggest deal breaker for those guys for me, but Darrisaw does get bonus points for having those long arms that can extend out and punch DEs off their spot. There’s a nice breakdown that Talkin’ Giants did showing Darrisaw’s reps against Roche from Miami. One of his strengths is that he is never really pushed around. He doesn’t seem to get flustered, he doesn’t seem to get riled up. It’s almost like every single snap of his is exactly the same, which is what you want from an NFL player. You want to know that, no matter the down/distance/situation, he’s going to go out there and you’re going to get exactly what you paid for. One scout said that Darrisaw is “incredibly boring”, which is a great thing. He’s there to just show up, erase the opposing DE, and then go sit back down.
His hand placement is insane. He doesn’t have a great punch or violent move, but it’s just a simple hand placement that can entirely erase opposing DEs. Whereas Slater relies on locking up with a guy, and Sewell relies on just being more violent than the opposing player, Darrisaw is just sort of hum-drum and places his hands exactly on the pads where the DE can’t split through and get to the QB. It’s honestly sort of amazing to watch in that he does it. Every. Single. Play. Another big bonus for Darrisaw is who he has played against. As I said before, I don’t put a lot of stock into competition, but Darrisaw faced off against some very good Miami pass rushers and some very good Pitt pass rushers, of those, multiple will be in the NFL. So we know he can play against Sunday-level talent.

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@"minny65" said:
Arm length "might" also be a factor in why the Lions moved him to RT.  
I know pre-draft analyst picked arm length apart with most of the OT's - like AVT being clearly a Guard.  But Slater arms are 33 vs Darisaw's at 34 1/4 and that is a decent difference.  
I was/am still a huge fan of the Darrisaw pick (no revisionists history from me) and his arm length was a factor for me putting him slightly above Slater in this draft.  That said, Slater has had a great preseason by all accounts while Darrisaw's arm length has not been a factor






Darrisaw has arms that are an entire inch longer than Sewell and 1 and 1/4” longer than Slater’s. This isn’t the biggest deal breaker for those guys for me, but Darrisaw does get bonus points for having those long arms that can extend out and punch DEs off their spot. There’s a nice breakdown that Talkin’ Giants did showing Darrisaw’s reps against Roche from Miami. One of his strengths is that he is never really pushed around. He doesn’t seem to get flustered, he doesn’t seem to get riled up. It’s almost like every single snap of his is exactly the same, which is what you want from an NFL player. You want to know that, no matter the down/distance/situation, he’s going to go out there and you’re going to get exactly what you paid for. One scout said that Darrisaw is “incredibly boring”, which is a great thing. He’s there to just show up, erase the opposing DE, and then go sit back down.
His hand placement is insane. He doesn’t have a great punch or violent move, but it’s just a simple hand placement that can entirely erase opposing DEs. Whereas Slater relies on locking up with a guy, and Sewell relies on just being more violent than the opposing player, Darrisaw is just sort of hum-drum and places his hands exactly on the pads where the DE can’t split through and get to the QB. It’s honestly sort of amazing to watch in that he does it. Every. Single. Play. Another big bonus for Darrisaw is who he has played against. As I said before, I don’t put a lot of stock into competition, but Darrisaw faced off against some very good Miami pass rushers and some very good Pitt pass rushers, of those, multiple will be in the NFL. So we know he can play against Sunday-level talent.

it's so hard for a rookie to start out playing well. Even great left tackles tend to struggle a little their first years. So that Slater has looked this good, this early, likely means he's going to be the All Pro that his upside suggested. 

I worry that Darrisaw is so far behind right now that even when he's healthy it will be difficult for him to get a chance. Call it the O'Neill predicament, where he might actually be better than the starter, but practicing with the 2nd team, he may not get a chance to show that. 

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Dave Birkett

@davebirkett

·8m

Penei Sewell said he has played primarily left tackle in practice the last two days since Decker’s injury

He'll open up vs Nick Bosa.

Welcome to the NFL. Lions did a great job of setting him up for failure.