Whoops! Revisiting hot takes from when Lions passed on Justin Fields for Penei Sewell
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By: Erik Schlitt
Remember some of the hot takes from when the Detroit Lions passed on Justin Fields to select Penei Sewell? We do.
The NFL Draft is full of overreactions and hot takes. Armchair fans and analysts are more than happy to weigh in on picks and attempt to ridicule teams for taking one player over another. This is especially prevalent among fans wanting to dunk on their favorite team’s division rivals.
For example, here’s a great screen grab from our own Ryan Mathews, capturing Green Bay Packers analysts reacting to the Detroit Lions taking running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft—you know, before he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
https://t.co/ZiRSgBYVaW pic.twitter.com/r7i6N0Nncf
— Ryan Mathews (@Ryan_POD) March 11, 2024
But following Saturday night’s news of the Chicago Bears trading quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a sixth-round pick in 2025 (!) we thought it might be a good time to revisit some media and fan reactions from when the Lions passed on Fields to select All-Pro offensive tackle, Penei Sewell.
Now this is all in good fun and in the spirit of team rivalries—and credit to these brave souls for not deleting these tweets—but at the same time, let’s have some fun Lions fans.
I really like Penei Sewell, but the Lions passing up on Justin Fields for Sewell cuz they have Goff is why the Lions are the Lions.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) April 30, 2021
He realized his mistake during the Lions 2023-24 divisional playoff win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
I was wrong about Jared Goff.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) January 21, 2024
Here are some more reactions from Bears fans:
How could you just gloss over the Bears getting Teven Jenkins?
Over the next 4 years you can have:
A) Jared Goff & Penei Sewell for $124m.
Or
B) Justin Fields & Teven Jenkins for $27m.
And there’s people on this planet, (Lions fans) who would pick A.
https://t.co/chtwMsrL47— Max Markham (@MaxMarkhamNFL) July 18, 2021
Plus theyre changing Sewell’s position to RT. Picking him over Fields makes zero sense.
— Max Markham (@MaxMarkhamNFL) July 18, 2021
Whoops.
@Lions just made the worst mistake in draft history mark my words. Passing on Fields is going to be a killer for Holmes & Co. Dumbass @bobwojnowski & the Detroit media talked Sewell into the pick. Hope y’all are happy when Fields is killing it and we still don’t got a qb
— Adam Mancini (@AdamMancini1992) April 30, 2021
Lions missed last years draft by taking Sewell over fields (Sewell is phenomenal but fields is a future franchise QB) & this year they will pass up on either Olave or Jameson Williams with their 2nd first round pick & make the same mistake
— NFC North Champs(OnePride) (@TheNextLegendBB) January 18, 2022
Remember when the Lions passed on Justin Fields because they loved Goff? pic.twitter.com/sqPly7LNFi
— Jonathan (@JJ113088) November 13, 2022
The lions passing on Justin Fields bc they have Jared Goff is totally Lions and I even think Sewell is gonna be a star. I’m never taking the OT over the franchise QB tho. Thanks Detroit!
— Ryan James (@RJChicagoSports) May 8, 2021
If the sarcasm wasn’t laid on so thick in this next Tweet, this would have actually been accurate.
I’m sure the Lions passing on Justin Fields only to have him land in their division won’t prove to be a costly decision at all
— Dane Belbeck (@ZDane7) April 30, 2021
But Lions media and fans are not immune to falling into this trap either.
Detroit Lions will never take leap until they get rid of Jared Goff, find their Justin Fields https://t.co/MFydPalEwl via @freep
— Carlos Monarrez (@cmonarrez) November 14, 2022
If only the Lions could have had a chance to draft a guy like Justin Fields!?!
He’ll be tormenting the Lions for years and years and years.
— Jeff Riger (@riger1984) November 13, 2022
The Lions passed on Justin Fields to keep Jared Goff and that’s truly the most disgusting act of the 2021 nfl draft
— Bak (@JacobBak12) July 17, 2021
Not to be left out, even the SOL crowd got in on the action:
OMG WTF IS THIS FRANCHISE DOING JUSTIN FIELDS WAS RIGHT THERE!!! IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE SAME OLD LIONS ♂️ ♂️ ♂️ https://t.co/Tn0kdiTgav
— Goff_SZN 0-0 (@Goff_SZN_16) March 16, 2024
Heck, some Lions fans were exposing themselves just a few days ago:
2024 NFC North QB rankings
1. #Packers: Jordan Love
2. #Bears: Justin Fields
3. #Lions: Jared Goff
4. #Vikings: Sam Darnold (For Now)— ObiWannaBrick31 (@ObiWannaBrick31) March 14, 2024
In the end, it’s nice when lessons are learned, and apologies are made.
There was a time I was upset the Lions drafted Sewell over Justin Fields, and I would like to sincerely apologize for that. At times, I can be quite the non-ball knower.
— Poopbutt69, M.D, Ph.D. (@gmanfridge) March 16, 2024
Originally posted on Pride Of Detroit
