He's Been Lionized

Meanwhile, a man in Minneapolis waits...

I don't think Sewell could ever be as good as his hype, but it's WAY early on the guy. Eric Fisher was #1 overall and he was horrible as a rookie. Same with Garrett Boles. 

@"MaroonBells" said: I don't think Sewell could ever be as good as his hype, but it's WAY early on the guy. Eric Fisher was #1 overall and he was horrible as a rookie. Same with Garrett Boles. 

Not sure why you would take the best LT in college and then move him to RT.  I could understand if their QB was left handed, but he is not.  I find more fault with the Lions here than the player.  Also. at least he is on the field and playing which more than we can say for another 1st round LT.  

@"JR44" said: Not sure why you would take the best LT in college and then move him to RT.  I could understand if their QB was left handed, but he is not.  I find more fault with the Lions here than the player.  Also. at least he is on the field and playing which more than we can say for another 1st round LT.  

Besides, I suspect Sewell's struggles are as much about him being 20 years old and not playing in two years than his move to the right. 

Probably would have been a better move to put him at LG than RT. Get his feet wet in being a pro, doesn't mess up his stance, footwork, or hand placement. Mitigates his less than optimal arm length.

@"BarrNone55" said: Probably would have been a better move to put him at LG than RT. Get his feet wet in being a pro, doesn't mess up his stance, footwork, or hand placement. Mitigates his less than optimal arm length.

@"StickyBun" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Probably would have been a better move to put him at LG than RT. Get his feet wet in being a pro, doesn't mess up his stance, footwork, or hand placement. Mitigates his less than optimal arm length.

Really good point here. He might be a better NFL guard than tackle when its all said and done.

Stupid by Lions, he is a pure LT or LG.

Why would you draft a guy Top 10 for RT???  That's pure LT draft territory. 

Fix your defense, get a WR or QB if you're happy with Decker at LT, then find a RT in Rounds 2-3, or trade back from Top 10 for fuck's sakes.

Sewell at RT is a disaster waiting to happen.  Plug him at LG then.  He spent his whole college career at 1 position LT, he was NOT position flexible at UO though he did start out at OG before they kicked him outside.  

One thing never changes in the NFL every year:

Lions gonna Lion

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! 

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.

@"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.

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.