Thoughts to end the week: Alternative look at 2021 draft, Decker's future, Goff's milestone and McNeill's pending return
Allen Park — Here are six thoughts to end the week as the Detroit Lions prepare to travel to Cincinnati to battle the slumping Bengals.
Dear Bengals, thank you
This week’s matchup has inevitably brought the 2021 NFL Draft back into focus.
Four years ago, the Bengals’ decision to draft wide receiver Jemarr Chase over offensive tackle Penei Sewell altered the course of history for the Lions more than we could have ever imagined, kick-starting a rebuild that has transformed the franchise from perennial cellar dweller into a multi-year Super Bowl contender.
No Lions fan should forget the genuine enthusiasm in the team’s war room when Sewell fell to them. And despite an ESPN report later that weekend that suggested the Lions had tried to trade up to four to select Chase, the target always read as speculative. Even now, knowing how much the Lions also needed a receiver, I refuse to believe Sewell wasn’t the target in the talks with Atlanta.
Chase is an exceptional player who, like Sewell, is on an early Hall of Fame track. His 5,425 receiving yards are the third-most in NFL history through four seasons. The same for his 46 receiving touchdowns.
However, the Bengals could have learned from the Lions, who already enjoyed the luxury of an all-time great at the position, and unfortunately, never won a division or a playoff or a division title during Calvin Johnson’s career.
Sewell, meanwhile, plays one of the three most important positions in the game, behind quarterback, and on par with edge rusher. If given the choice between equally graded talents, the tackle is almost always the way to go.
Sewell’s addition to a strong veteran group consisting of Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow, Jonah Jackson and Halapoulivaati Vaitai supercharged what former coordinator Ben Johnson called the engine that makes Detroit’s offense go, a unit that’s finished top five in scoring each of the past three seasons and is once again pacing the league.
I asked coach Dan Campbell on Friday if he ever thinks about how much Sewell’s sliding to the Lions fueled the team’s success.
“How much?” Campbell repeated. “I think it put the wheels in motion for what we have become and to the point where we are at. That’s how important I think it is. Because really, everything that we’re about starts with the bigs. And then it permeates everywhere else. So, being able to get that player has been huge for us, man. He is a pillar. He is one of our pillars from day one. And he’s a guy that sets the tone. He’s a phenomenal athlete, his work ethic, everything we’ve talked about up to this point, man. And so, we are blessed and fortunate to have him.”
With sports, we often lament the draft misfires. But let’s flip that around and consider what would have happened had the Lions stayed at No. 7 and the Bengals selected Sewell. The Dolphins, slotted between the two, grabbed wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. There’s little doubt, in this alternate history, they snatch Chase instead.
We don’t exactly know what the Lions would have done at that point, but we have Campbell’s comments from a podcast interview later that offseason.