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Penei Sewell has been an All-Pro three times and selected to the Pro Bowl four times during his first five seasons, putting him in elite company with just three Hall of Famers.
The Detroit Lions are switching Sewell’s position this season, setting him apart from Anthony Munoz, Tony Boselli and Joe Thomas.
The trio of former all-time greats are the only other offensive tackles to be first-team All-Pro at least three times and named to the Pro Bowl four times or more in their first five years in the league — and they were left tackles throughout their NFL careers.
Detroit is making the move to replace Taylor Decker while putting first-round pick Blake Miller or newly acquired veteran Larry Borom at Sewell’s previous spot at right tackle.
Lions coach Dan Campbell expects a seamless transition for the 6-foot-5, 335-pound Sewell.
“It’ll be like riding a bike for him,” Campbell said Friday before the team’s workout. “Will there be things he’ll have to learn? Yeah, of course there will be. But I mean, he has played left. That’s muscle memory. He played a lot of left in college and for us in ’21.”
Detroit drafted Sewell out of Oregon, where he was an award-winning left tackle, with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Sewell started the first eight games of his career in 2021 at left tackle because Decker was injured, making him the youngest left tackle to start an NFL game at 20 years old.
The Lions shifted Sewell to right tackle midway through his rookie year, and he stayed there for the last four-plus seasons, other than a short stint during the 2023 season when Decker was hurt again.
“Sewell can do it all,” Campbell said.
Decker asked for his release during the offseason, ending a 10-year run as the team’s starting left tackle after announcing he was coming back instead of retiring. The Lions addressed the void by taking Miller out of Clemson with the No. 17 pick last month.
Sewell, who is in the first season of a four-year, $112 million contract, has proven to be quite a pick for Detroit.
He earned first-team, All-Pro honors the last three years and Pro Bowl recognition four straight times. Sewell has started 83 times in the regular season, plus four playoff games, in five years to help the long-suffering franchise become a respected team in the league.
Campbell said Sewell is athletic enough to play guard or even tight end, but switching sides for an offensive lineman can be challenging.
Players who have made the move say it’s like driving a car with the opposite foot or shaving with their other hand. The footwork is different, as is the hand-and-eye coordination required on each side.
“When you switch, you have a different leg up front,” Sewell has said. “So you have to push off a different leg every time. You have to train this leg that’s been back the whole time and catching to now pushing.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
