PHOENIX — Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Monday he’s considering switching All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell to left tackle for the 2026 season.
“That’s easy. I’ve talked to him. We’re ready to do that, if need be. I don’t want to say that right now I’m going to commit to that, but that’s, I mean, we’re ready to do that,” Campbell said at the NFL annual league meeting. “And all he wants is a couple of days is to work his left hand in the stance a little bit.
“It’s a little bit like riding a bike for him. He’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. He’ll bank some reps and be able to do it. He gives us that flexibility. If you’re asking me, I’d like to move him. I would. I would like to move him to left.”
Sewell, who enters his sixth season with the Lions, is a four-time Pro Bowler with three first-team AP All-Pro nods in his career, primarily as a right tackle.
However, Campbell is “very confident” that his star offensive lineman can make the switch.
Sewell has played 647 regular-season snaps at left tackle, one at right guard and 4,619 snaps at right tackle in his NFL career, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Most of his left tackle experience came in 2021, although he did start a game there last season in Week 6 at Kansas City. However, he hasn’t played the left tackle position on a full-time basis since his college days at Oregon from 2018 to 2019 where he was named the 2019 Outland Trophy Winner as the NCAA’s top interior lineman.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, his QB pressure rate allowed was 9.3% as a rookie at left tackle in 2021 and since then it has been 7% at right tackle.
Still, Campbell believes his versatile skill set can transition seamlessly into the new role and called it nice to have that flexibility within the unit with a player like Sewell.
“It’s big. You don’t get that everywhere with every player. But it also shows how special he is. And he’s done it, because he’s done that before. He’s played left before,” Campbell said. “Hell, his first year here with us when [Taylor] Decker went down, he played left.
“As a rookie, he banked real reps against real guys at left tackle. Adapt, adjust and he goes to right. There will be a little rust, maybe at first, but he’s going to be fine. The guy is phenomenal and he’s going to work on it until he gets it to the way he wants to where it feels like the right side.”
This offseason, Detroit has made several changes to retool its offensive line after struggling this past season, in which it missed the postseason for the first time since 2022, while adapting to many new faces. Detroit ranked 20th in run block win rate (70.7%) and 30th in pass block win rate (55.2%) in 2025 and looks to get back on track.
Before free agency began, Detroit released veteran lineman Graham Glasgow and starting left tackle Decker, who was also the team’s longest-tenured player in cap-saving moves.
The Lions also signed former Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays to a three-year deal, former Miami Dolphins lineman Larry Borom, and veteran guard Ben Bartch via free agency while acquiring Juice Scruggs from the Houston Texans as part of the David Montgomery trade to beef up their line.
If Sewell were to make the switch, Campbell views him as a safety net as they continue to bolster the unit after not being up to par in 2025 compared to their previous standard.
“I just think it brings a little extra security, and most of the time, if it doesn’t go that way, at least you know where it’s coming from or you can feel it. If I’m the quarterback, it’s all in front of me,” he said.
