DETROIT -- One week into training camp, Detroit Lions All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell surveyed the practice field after a particularly tough session, and he noticed a number of changes.
As his two-and-a-half-year-old son, Malakai, sat on his neck, Sewell, 24, briefly reflected on his personal journey as a man off the field, but also as a player on the field entering his fifth NFL season.
He's no longer that wide-eyed rookie who arrived in Detroit as the seventh overall pick in 2021. Sewell has emerged as a full-blown leader for a Lions team that is viewed as a serious Super Bowl contender.
"It's a lot different. A lot more mature than I was rookie year. A lot has changed. I've got a family now. I've got three kids. But it's all for the better and I wouldn't change anything for the world," Sewell said. "Football-wise, how everything just keeps on slowing down. I'm getting more comfortable with everything."
That comfort level will be put to the test after an offseason of change in Detroit. After a franchise-best 15-win season in 2024, the Lions lost eight assistant coaches -- including their offensive and defensive coordinators -- and, what perhaps affects Sewell the most, also a pair of starters on the offensive line in four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow, who abruptly retired in June, and veteran guard Kevin Zeitler, who signed with the Tennessee Titans.
The losses on the line can't be minimized, and have left many wondering if the Lions will continue to keep their offensive production among the league's elite.
With the departures of Ragnow and Zeitler, the Lions will have to replace 40% of an offensive line that was on the field for the second-most points and touchdowns of any five-man unit in the NFL last season. The Lions ability to replace those departures will be key to an offense that led the NFL in points per game (29.0) over the past three seasons -- including a league-high 33.2 points per game in 2024 -- as well as ranking first in red zone touchdown percentage, second in expected points added, third in offensive efficiency and third in yards per play over that span.
A strong front line will be especially important for quarterback Jared Goff, who has struggled when put under pressure. Last season, Goff ranked second in the NFL in QBR when he had a clean pocket, compared to 23rd when he was pressured, per ESPN Research. Goff had the second-largest QBR decline in the NFL when he was pressured compared to when he had a clean pocket, ahead of only former New York Giants QB Daniel Jones.
Ragnow and Zeitler's absences have forced a reshuffle among the unit. One regular starter, Graham Glasgow, has changed his position this offseason from guard to center, and opportunities for two new faces, second-year guard Christian Mahogany and rookie guard Tate Ratledge, to assume a starting role have opened up.
Former Lions offensive lineman Lomas Brown says change isn't something offensive lines typically want to experience. But with so much swirling around the Lions' line, they have no choice but to adapt.
"The biggest thing for me is the adjustment that Graham Glasgow is going to have to make and how he's gonna make that adjustment. Because it is different going from guard back into center," said Brown, now an NFL analyst. "So, that's my biggest thing is who's going to be able to take the job. He's got to take that job. And then Tate. To see how he's going to be able to handle the NFL."
To help facilitate a smooth transition, the Lions are relying on veterans such as Sewell, left tackle Taylor Decker and Glasgow as well as the steadying presence of offensive line coach Hank Fraley, who is one of the coaches who remained with the team this offseason, despite interest from other teams.
This offseason, Fraley interviewed for the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator role, but ultimately returned to Detroit with head coach Dan Campbell to take on arguably his toughest challenge ahead with the new setup.
"It's a great challenge; we've gotten younger and that's good. It's a young man's game, too, sometimes and us old guys wanna hang on as long as we can play it," Fraley told ESPN. "Because once you walk away from the game, you're done. You're not going to play pickup tackle football in the backyard at all."
Campbell set the tone and made the message clear on Day 1 of camp that his eyes will be intently focused on the offensive line and how those starting positions will sort out ahead of Week 1.
So far, Glasgow has taken most of the first-team reps at center with Ratledge at right guard, Sewell at right tackle, Mahogany at left guard and Decker at left tackle.
However, other linemen such as Dan Skipper, Giovanni Manu, Kayode Awosika, and Kingsley Eguakun are displaying leadership as well within the competitive unit.
"There's still hunger across the O-line," Mahogany said. "From the highest paid guy to the rookie minimum, everyone's hungry on this team."
After the first day of joint practices against the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 13, Campbell was impressed with Ratledge and thought he "looked like a starting NFL guard" which fired him up for the rookie. The Lions drafted Ratledge out of Georgia in the second round this spring.
Fraley is still trying to establish their full identity together though.
"I just joke with everybody, coaches and family and all that, even my own wife and say, 'we're a work in progress.' And we're gonna know Week 1, but we're always gonna be a work in progress for the rest of the year," Fraley said. "All I know is this, effort and finish and attitude... that's what you're always gonna see.
"That physicality will show itself, but I love the progression where we're going. It's hard to see it right now, but it's going there."
But even with all the changes and statistics, Sewell refuses to make any excuses moving forward. There's a threshold that he's accustomed to playing at and he doesn't see that falling off any time soon in Detroit if he has anything to do with it.
"The standard's the standard, regardless of who comes in. And that standard never changes for anybody. You've got to come in knowing that," Sewell said. "You've got to come up and execute to that standard. It's been in place by the guys before us and it's our duty and our responsibility to uphold it."
