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Notes: Lions offensive line unit lands in top 10

A PFF analyst believes Detroit’s built the foundation they need to succeed.

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Detroit Lions Off-Season Workout Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

The Detroit Lions have built the foundation to become one of the strongest offensive line units in the league, according to one PFF analyst.

Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey ranked the best offensive lines heading into the 2021 season, placing the Lions near the top of the list at No. 10. (That’s a high ranking for anything related to Detroit.)

Here’s exactly how Lindsey put it: “It’s fair to be optimistic about Detroit building one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.”

Boy that’s nice to read, huh? Lindsey points to left tackle Taylor Decker’s career-high 82.0 overall grade and 85.8 pass-blocking grade in 2020, as well as center Frank Ragnow’s third-best mark among the league’s centers at 80.3. The guy is constantly making top lists at his position.

Throw in rookie Penei Sewell at right tackle — the top offensive tackle on the PFF draft board — and Detroit is in good shape in 2021. The only position still in need of some work is guard, but the hope is moving Halapoulivaati Vaitai from right tackle to right guard will fix some of those pass-blocking issues, and Jonah Jackson lives up to his potential after a less-than-stellar 57.0 overall grade last season.

“The Lions appear to have built the foundation of an excellent offensive line for the foreseeable future,” he writes.

Linsey also ranked all 32 defensive line units and Detroit didn’t place as badly as you’d think, coming in at No. 24. The Lions finished the season at No. 30 but managed to climb up a few spots after adding Michael Brockers, Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill.

“It’s easy to forget, given how bad Detroit’s defense has been these past two seasons, that (Trey) Flowers is one of the better defensive linemen in the league when healthy,” Lindsey adds.

Onto the rest of your notes.

  • Exciting stuff.

  • Training camp hats, per our own Mike Payton:

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