The Detroit Lions came out of Kansas City in Week 1 without any serious injuries. That’s a cherry on top of the delicious victory sundae of beating the Chiefs. But there was one injury that popped up that could sour the Week 2 lineup against Seattle.
Left tackle Taylor Decker suffered an injury to his ankle in the win over the Chiefs. He didn’t miss any snaps in the game, but Decker was in a walking boot afterward. The veteran also missed practice on Tuesday due to the ankle.
Buy Lions TicketsHead coach Dan Campbell doesn’t seem too worried about not having Decker in Ford Field on Sunday. Here’s what Campbell said about his left tackle,
“He played the whole game with it and finished out, which man, that was outstanding. I mean, Deck’s a tough SOB, man. So, to watch him battle out there, it was impressive. So, look, we’ll know a lot more in a few days, but I’m encouraged because I know, there again, he finished out that game and we’re pretty good everywhere else.”
Replacing Decker — in the unlikely event he misses the Seahawks matchup — would not be easy. The Lions do have some moving pieces and parts that give Campbell and offensive line coach Hank Fraley some options, however…
Move Penei Sewell to LT
This seems to be the most obvious move: switch right tackle Penei Sewell to the left side. Yet it’s not a perfect solution for Sewell, who has thrived at right tackle, or a Lions offensive scheme that favors running to the right behind him.
It can be hard to remember, but Sewell did not play very well at left tackle as a rookie in 2021 when he replaced an injured Decker to start the year. That was Sewell’s first few NFL games and he’d only practiced on the right side, which is critically important context, but he’s proven to be considerably better on the right.
Another (perhaps) unintended consequence of flipping Sewell’s side temporarily to cover any Decker injury is that it could provide a glimpse of the future. Decker is under contract through 2024, at which time the Lions might want to move Sewell to the left side permanently.
Insert Matt Nelson at LT
Moving Sewell around requires correlating lineup changes and positional shifting. If the Lions want to keep it simpler, sliding backup OT Matt Nelson into Decker’s spot at left tackle would be the option.
Nelson has played almost 1,000 NFL regular-season snaps, so he’s got some legit experience in his four-plus seasons in Detroit. Alas, just five of those reps have come at left tackle — and four of those were in victory formation kneel-downs.
In the preseason, Nelson struggled while playing left tackle. In 53 pass protection snaps at LT, he allowed four QB hits and seven QB pressures. That’s more than Decker typically gives up in a month of regular-season starts.
It’s an option. Not the option I would choose nor one I think the Lions would utilize, but it at least has to be in the discussion.
Sewell at LT, then what?
On the presumption that the Lions would shift Sewell to left tackle, there are ripple effects. Namely, who plays right tackle?
Nelson is one solution. He played his best in the preseason and training camp on the right side, notably in the joint practices against the Jaguars. That’s where he started eight games in 2021 while Sewell covered for an injured Decker, too.
Another solution is kicking right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai out to right tackle. He played there in his first Lions season back in 2020, and his run blocking would be the closest emulation to having Sewell out there leading the charge.
There are definite drawbacks here. Vaitai was the Lions’ top offensive player in Week 1 if you ask Pro Football Focus, and his crushing work on the interior directly paved the way for David Montgomery’s game-winning fourth quarter on the ground.
Sober-eyed fans might also recall Vaitai’s experience at right tackle. It had fans wanting him punished for crimes against football and soured him with a significant portion of the fan base. That’s an extreme reaction, but there’s no denying Big V wasn’t very good as the part-time starting RT back in 2020.
The advantage of moving Vaitai outside to tackle would be that it allows Detroit to get its best five linemen (minus Decker, of course) on the field at the same time. Graham Glasgow is the top interior reserve and played well enough to earn a starting role at right guard this offseason. Healthy once again after struggling through major injury issues in Denver, Glasgow playing RG with Vaitai to his outside shoulder would be the optimal allocation of OL spending and resources.
The rookies
Fifth-round rookie Colby Sorsdal played right tackle in college at William & Mary, but the Lions are clearly transitioning the big rookie to guard. He received scant training camp snaps at tackle, and all of those were with the personnel groupings of players who aren’t even on the practice squad right now.
Speaking of the practice squad, promoting undrafted rookie Connor Galvin as a gameday emergency option could be in the works. Galvin was Detroit’s highest-graded offensive player by PFF in the preseason and proved he could play either left or right tackle. If Nelson gets the nod in the starting lineup, Galvin could fill his spot as the extra tackle/de facto blocking tight end in jumbo packages.
