Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell has become one of the very best at his position in the NFL over three seasons, and that was solidified by the team giving him a massive contract extension this offseason.
Now, normally we wouldn't complain about a Lions player being ranked No. 3 on a list of the best players at their position, but we do have an axe to grind when it comes to Sewell landing in that spot in Pro Football Focus' rankings.
Sewell falls behind San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams (No. 1) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs on the list from PFF's Zoltan Buday, who argues that Sewell isn't higher because of his 2023 pass-blocking grade.
Sewell showed significant improvement during the 2023 season, as his 95.1 run-blocking grade and 92.8 overall grade ranked first at the position. However, because his pass-blocking grade ranked outside the top 10, he finishes third in this ranking.
We can live with Williams being ahead of Sewell because he's been one of the best in the business for years now and was still playing at an elite level in 2023. However, Wirfs being ranked ahead of Sewell doesn't fly if we're talking about last year's numbers, which Buday is clearly basing his rankings on.
It's true, Wirfs (84.3) had a better pass-blocking grade than Sewell (78.1), but the former also gave up four more sacks and four more pressures. Not to mention, the gap between Sewell and Wirfs' overall grade (90.7 to 81.1) and run-blocking grade (93.1 to 72.2) are bigger.
Now, that's not to say that Wirfs isn't a great tackle, because he is. We should also mention that Wirfs was switching sides last season. However, the numbers do not bear out that he had more success than Sewell did.
