The Lions have arguably the best starting offensive tackle tandems in the NFL in Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell. After that dynamic duo, the Detroit depth chart at offensive tackle is discouraging.
Head coach Dan Campbell and offensive line coach Hank Fraley are searching for someone, anyone, to step up and seize the No. 3 OT job. Holdover Matt Nelson, veteran newcomer Germain Ifedi and a crew of unproven, undrafted youngsters are all battling to win the job. Through the first weeks of training camp, nobody has won the swing tackle position.
“Well, I would say right now it’s open,” Campbell said before Wednesday’s joint practice with Jacksonville. “It’s open, and those guys knew that coming in here, and I think that Nelson and Ifedi are just going back and forth. I thought Nelson’s had a pretty good camp, but I think Ifedi played pretty good in this game last week, and he’s played a lot in this league.”
On Wednesday, Ifedi was the second-team left tackle and fared relatively well in team drills. Just as he did in the preseason win over the Giants, the veteran Ifedi didn’t lose reps even if he didn’t win many, either. That should give him an advantage over Nelson, who has kicked to right tackle with the second team.
Nelson has shown he can win reps, notably in the run game. He had a couple of those in the joint practice against the Jags. But he also loses reps a lot more frequently than his competition, something we all saw on the very first play of the preseason. Nelson’s slow footwork and poor recovery athleticism have been a problem all summer, and that appears to have given Ifedi the edge in playing the more critical left tackle.
Campbell also brought up second-year tackle Obinna Eze, who has shown some progress in camp.
“Eze’s really come a long way, there again it’s just about the consistency and getting reps and playing. So, I think it’s very much open, it’s open and they’re competing for that spot,” Campbell concluded.
Eze was an undrafted rookie a year ago who didn’t look NFL-ready. This year, the Lions have two such UDFAs in Ryan Swoboda and Connor Galvin. It’s not that Galvin or Swoboda have been egregiously bad while working with the deep reserves, but neither has stood out as someone who looks upwardly mobile on the depth chart in 2023.
Fifth-round rookie Colby Sorsdal, a college tackle at William & Mary, has worked exclusively at guard since training camp ramped up. Recently signed vet Bobby Hart has only lined up at guard since joining the Lions, too. That is not expected to change for Sorsdal — who has shown promise in his positional transition — or Hart. Vet Darrin Paulo works more inside as well, while international program player Max Pircher hasn’t separated himself from the 6-foot-9 Swoboda at the bottom of the depth chart.
