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Thanks to a nearly 20-minute video from GOAT Farm Media, you can see what it was like to be with Detroit's first-round pick Penei Sewell on Draft Day. In it, you get to see the new Lions tackle doing footwork drills with his brothers in Utah at his hometown high school, getting his hair cut, talking about growing up in Samoa, and preparing for the draft party with his parents.
Eleven minutes in, Sewell gets the call from Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell letting him know he’s going to be a member of the Detroit Lions. The video finishes out with a quiet talk from the rookie and his parents, and a positive message that great things are possible with hard work.
We all look forward to seeing that hard work translate to the pancaked wreckage of opponents on the turf in Penei Sewell’s wake.
Now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:
- The Lions have not yet announced any new analytics hires, so the only two on ESPN data guy Seth Walder’s radar are Brighenti and Pelfrey (both of whom we already know about from last year):
Updating my NFL analytics staffers list.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) May 14, 2021
As always, this is to the best of my understanding based on what teams list and conversations with staffers themselves.
Criteria broadly is: staffers whose primary job is to perform data analysis or build football analytics tools. pic.twitter.com/5GJRjcy5NO
- Fresh off his new contract signing, stud center Frank Ragnow is back to Grizzly Man Outdoors pursuits. You can now stan the best fisherman in the NFC North with official apparel:
For people reaching out wanting to rock some #GrizzlyManOutdoors Gear! Check it out! https://t.co/oouqLkhbVB Will have the hats up on the site soon! #Swag pic.twitter.com/oCL5qAW4Tj
— Frank Ragnow (@KNARFWONGAR) May 13, 2021
- Tim Twentyman from the team’s official site wrote about five things to watch from the news coming out of this weekend’s rookie minicamp. Among them: scheme and practice flow.
- Elsewhere in the NFC North:
Michael Roberts and Lions Summer Legend Chris Lacy are in Bears rookie camp on tryouts.
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) May 14, 2021
- MLive’s Kyle Meinke put just four things to watch in his article looking forward to the rookie minicamp, and he focused on particular positions of interest. Like Twentyman, Meinke thinks there may be some worthwhile action at wide receiver even beyond fourth-round pick Amon-Ra St. Brown.
- Go back to 4:49 in Episode 2 of Inside the Den for this:
Remember when one of the Lions scouts compared a player to The Mountain from "Game of Thrones" in a pre-draft preview video released on the team's site?
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) May 14, 2021
It was Cleveland. https://t.co/69MDUapRnN
- In case you were wondering, the Lions rookie minicamp roster has no jersey numbers on it. Only a few are known from other sources, and Justin Rogers from the Detroit News suggests everyone stay calm and wait for final numbers before ordering their custom jerseys:
Some Lions rookie numbers (via the 'Gram):
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) May 14, 2021
Onwuzurike: 75
McNeil: 54
Melifonwu: 26
Jefferson: 28
Worth a reminder that rookies often change up after roster cutdown, when more numbers become available.