Notes: Analysts eye Lions offensive line as potential top unit in 2022

The Detroit Lions offensive line is catching some eyeballs across the league.

After having a decent showing in 2021 despite losing starters to extensive injuries, some analysts think the Detroit Lions’ offensive line could be one of the top units in 2022 when back to full health.

Detroitlions.com’s Tim Twentyman is out in Los Angeles this week ahead of Super Bowl LVI talking to folks around the league about what’s going on with the Detroit Lions.

The Lions writer spoke with Tony Boselli, a five-time Pro Bowler and current finalist for the Hall of Fame, who said the offensive line in particular has a chance to rise in the ranks in 2022.

“They have a lot of talent, and you can do so much with that. Your quarterback is more comfortable. He can sit back there and you can do more stuff down the field,” Boselli told detroitlions.com.

The Lions have been building up the trenches with left tackle Taylor Decker, a first-round pick in 2016, then adding center Frank Ragnow in 2018, another first-round pick. Left guard Jonah Jackson, who just played in his first Pro Bowl, was a third-round pick in 2020, adding Halapoulivaati Vaitai the same year in free agency. Then, of course, right tackle Penei Sewell was the Lions’ first pick in 2021.

Despite the first unit having not ever played together once this season, Detroit’s offensive line still finished 13th in the league, per Pro Football Focus. You’ll remember Decker was out eight games with a toe injury and Ragnow only played the first four matchups, then was sidelined the rest of the season with a toe injury. Still, the unit helped the Lions rushing game average 4.4 yards per carry. Not bad.

Twentyman also spoke with former NFL guard and current FOX Sports Radio analyst Geoff Schwartz. Read the entire article here.

Another Twentyman article to check out — many folks had great things to say about wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown over on Radio Row, including former Packers wide receiver and current NFL analyst James Jones, and Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• In honor of Black History Month, General Manager Brad Holmes explains how the Lions are taking steps forward.

• With free agency looming, The Athletic’s Chris Burke evaluates Tracy Walker’s value on the market. ($)

• SB Nation reached out to writers covering teams the Bengals played to see what they learned during that game. Our own Ryan Mathews weighed in: “The 2021 Detroit Lions will be remembered as a team short on talent, but long on effort, hustle, and perseverance, consistently punching above their weight in plenty of games this past season. Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals will not be remembered as one of those games.”

• Anytime Mathew Stafford throws an interception, there’s usually a splatter of tweets on my timeline like “there’s the Stafford we know.” So I imagine there’s a contingent who would find this interesting:

• Just yesterday it was announced Munich, Germany will host its first regular season NFL game next year. Now, Tottenham Hotspur are making a bid to host a Super Bowl in a few years in London.

• While we’re on the topic of the Super Bowl, I’d enjoy reading your thoughts on which year offered the best logo. Laid out like this, it’s a little sad how much the logo lost personality starting in 2010, in my humble opinion.