Jonah Jackson: 'It's a Prove-It Year' for Lions' Offensive Line
The Detroit Lions will enter the 2022 season with the offensive line as one of the primary strengths of the roster.
Such was the case also heading into the 2021 campaign. However, the O-line never had a chance to play the full year together, due to the injury bug rearing its ugly head.
Most notably, starting center Frank Ragnow and starting left tackle Taylor Decker both suited up for less than 10 games a year ago, and failed to play a single game together. Ragnow only played in four games due to an injured toe, while Decker suited up in just nine games due to a spiral fracture of his left index finger.
All the while, the offensive line still performed at a high level.
Rookie Penei Sewell played at both right and left tackle, and allowed just five sacks all season. He also was named to Pro Football Focus' and Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie teams.
Meanwhile, Jonah Jackson, in his second season as a pro, suited up for 16 games (primarily at left guard), and earned a 69.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus (good for 22nd out of 82 qualified guards). Additionally, for his efforts, the Ohio State product was named a Pro Bowl alternate.
With all the returning talent on the line, Jackson believes it's "a prove-it year" for the unit.
"I'm really excited for what this year has in store for us, what we're going to bring to the table," Jackson told reporters at his pre-draft media session Thursday. "It's a prove-it year, because hopefully all of us stay healthy and we're able to bring the full line in tandem and go to work."
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Despite all the success he had in 2021, Jackson knows there are areas in his game he can improve upon headed into the 2022 campaign.
"From my sets in pass pro to my run blocking, just critiquing little things, tightening up the aiming points and landmarks and stuff. But, it's a constant work in progress," Jackson said. "It's everything across the board that I'm trying to tweak and get better. Watching film and seeing what I did well, and seeing what I did bad and seeing where my feet went wrong and my hand placement went wrong. Just fixing that stuff and being more consistent."
Just like Jackson, Ragnow is excited about the prospect of the entire offensive line being healthy going into the upcoming season. In fact, the Pro Bowl center told reporters Thursday that he believes the unit can be "pretty dang good," if it stays healthy.
"It's obviously on us, and it's really where we want to take ourselves and how hard we want to push ourselves," Ragnow expressed. "I think definitely if you look talent wise and just look at the dudes across the line, we can be, I mean they were pretty dang good last year, too. So, I'd love to help them and boost everything. And, I think if we all get going and we gel and stay healthy, I think we can be a pretty good O-line. But, we have to take it one day at a time, and the sky's the limit there."
With Ragnow and Jackson returning, the Lions have two offensive linemen that have previously been Pro Bowlers.
Sewell could be on the verge of becoming a Pro Bowler himself, going into his second season in the league. And, Decker, although having never been named to a Pro Bowl since being drafted by Detroit in 2016, has grown into one of the best left tackles in the NFL.
To Ragnow, though, as nice as it is to be named to a Pro Bowl, it isn't always the best measure of a player's level of success.
"I think Taylor Decker's an amazing player. I think 'Big V' (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) is an amazing player, and I think, don't get me wrong, I think the Pro Bowl vote is such a blessing and a dream come true. But, there's a lot of good players in this league that have never been considered for the Pro Bowl," Ragnow said. "So, I think that's what's cool about this group is that every single guy is, I like to say, 'a dude.' And, it's just cool to see how each guy can flash, and we've just got to keep being consistent and really put it all together hopefully."
Consistency is the name to the game, and establishing more of it from a team-wide perspective will be key to the Lions taking the next step in their rebuild in 2022.
