Evaluating Lions' Options at Left Tackle

With Taylor Decker out for Sunday's regular season opener with the San Francisco 49ers, here are three ways in which the Detroit Lions could fill the void at left tackle.

A suddenly shocking and problematic scenario has surfaced in Detroit, that has starting left tackle Taylor Decker missing Sunday's regular season opener with the San Francisco 49ers - - and possibly much more time with a finger injury. So, what will the Lions do? 

The challenges San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa presents from a pass-rushing standpoint just got bigger. Additionally, with Decker possibly needing surgery on the finger, this could become the storyline of Detroit's season.  

Through the years, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have adopted the philosophy of "no excuses," and that needs to be the mentality on this one. Next man up. 

This is where a team's scouting department shines - - or it gets exposed. 

Detroit is now faced with a decision that could go one of three ways. 

A.) Start reserve Matt Nelson at left tackle

B.) Move Penei Sewell to left tackle, and start Nelson at right tackle

C.) Move Halapoulivaati Vaitai (Big V) to one of the tackle spots, and start Logan Stenberg at right guard

This is not like a test, either, where you can select choice "D" for none of the above. 

Lions head coach Dan Campbell must choose between one of these three choices, and while none of the choices are ideal, he will have to go with what he feels is the best choice to make. That is what head coaches have to do.

While the Lions could be forced to make an early season trade for another team's third tackle to try to patch things up, depending on the severity of Decker's finger injury, the above is what they are left with for now. 

Needless to say, no matter what choice Campbell makes, he and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn are going to have to get creative with their blocking and go with a lot more max protect schemes and two-tight end looks to try to balance things out and to try to keep quarterback Jared Goff upright. 

Choice “A” is probably the best choice at this point, given the information that is at hand. It is probably the best choice, because the thought exists that Nelson had some success last year and with Sewell's recent and well-documented footwork and body control struggles at right tackle, now is probably not the best time to move him to the even more challenging left side. 

Junfu Han, Imagn Content Services, LLC

Granted, Sewell recently has been telling reporters that he has been practicing at left tackle and despite the fact Sewell played left tackle at Oregon, this is not college. It is widely known that the league's premier pass rushers come from the left side of the line. Heck, there is even a movie about it called "The Blind Side." 

This is why left tackles tend to go higher in the draft than other positions along the offensive line, and it is also why they get paid the most. Leaving Sewell where he is at and giving him a chance to clean things up seems to make the most sense for now. 

To put it bluntly, Detroit is playing with fire, if it moves Sewell to the left side. And, no matter if it did, San Francisco is sure to flip-flop Bosa and test both sides to determine where he can get his most favorable matchup. So, it really does not matter a whole lot for Week 1.

"Choice C" would be a disaster. Big V was a backup swing right tackle to begin with in Philadelphia, when Detroit severely overpaid and overextended themselves to bring him in via free agency in 2020.

Game film back in 2019 clearly indicated he did not have the necessary foot work or foot speed to make it at the position, and it only took about two weeks for the Lions to move him to right guard, after discovering the same thing.

Putting Big V at left tackle is unthinkable. If Detroit were to choose C and even plug Big V in on the right side, that would leave Goff extremely vulnerable to the point that backup QB David Blough had better start warming up in the proverbial bullpen. 

No matter how someone slices a pie, it is still a pie, and it is way too early to already be spread this thin on the offensive line. If any more of the starters get injured -- which is also especially applicable to the team's limited group of receivers -- this thing could get out of hand Sunday, and it could get ugly quickly.

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