On Thursday night, the Detroit Lions selected OT Penei Sewell with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Following the pick, the majority of Lions fans seemed to like the pick but some were very upset because the team passed on two quarterbacks for an offensive lineman. Those quarterbacks were Justin Fields, who ended up going to the Chicago Bears and Mac Jones, who was drafted by the New England Patriots.
One could assume that the Lions had Sewell rated higher than both Fields and Jones and according to GM Brad Holmes, that was exactly the case.
From Detroit Free Press:
“If there was a quarterback that was just like graded way higher over Penei we would have had to strongly consider that,” Holmes said. “But it unfortunately for our sakes, it wasn’t — Penei was the highest-rated guy when we took him.”
Fans, whether you like it or not, the Lions are going to give Jared Goff a shot to be their future quarterback. If it works out, it would make the Matthew Stafford trade even better. If it does not work out, they can get a quarterback when the time is right.
As I said in the months leading up to the draft, now was not the time to draft a signal-caller.