When the Detroit Lions were on the clock with the No. 7 pick on Thursday night, plenty of fans were very excited about very different reasons.
Some (including myself) were pumped up that OT Penei Sewell fell to seven, while others were fired up about the fact that QBs Justin Fields and Mac Jones were still available, giving the Lions an option to draft a signal-caller or trade down with a team in need of one (Patriots).
When the pick was announced, it was Penei Sewell who joined The Pride.
Following the pick, Lions GM Brad Holmes was asked about his decision to select Sewell over Fields and his answer was pretty straightforward.
From Detroit Free Press:
“I will say that we did have Penei ranked higher,” he said. “So even with (Fields) being there in the hopper, we felt better about the pick.”
“It’s termed often ‘not as sexy’ when you go with a big lineman and sometimes they say it’s safe and it’s sound,” he said. “But I think it will be a very, very, I guess, sexy, attractive pick when he’s rolling with our offensive line during the season and making an impact on both phases, of the run and pass.”
“When we sat down, Dan and I really started looking at the roster as a whole we actually identified the offensive line as a strength on our team,” Holmes said. “So to be able to, let’s just say, ‘Feed the beast,’ and add to that strength and just make it even more of powerful unit, that’s really what it came down to.”
