Penei Sewell is officially the best offensive tackle in football, according to the people who watch him for a living.
ESPN’s annual survey of NFL executives, coaches and scouts placed the Detroit Lions star atop its 2026 offensive tackle rankings, jumping him from No. 2 a year ago past Tampa Bay’s Tristan Wirfs and San Francisco’s Trent Williams. It’s the seventh edition of the poll, which ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler compiles from more than 70 league voters who submit their own top-10 ballots at each position.
Sewell didn’t run away with it. He rarely landed at No. 1 on individual ballots, but he stayed parked in the second- and third-place range often enough that his composite average carried him past the field. One veteran NFL defensive coach put it simply: he’s still the most complete player at his position, calling him physical, powerful and smart.
An NFC executive who voted for Sewell was blunter about what separates him. The exec described Sewell as playing with more edge than anyone else at the position, someone who consistently brings a nasty streak to his snaps.
Not every voter was sold. One NFL coordinator pushed back on the hype around Sewell’s pass protection, telling ESPN that his shorter arm length shows up against elite pass rushers and that evaluators tend to look past it. It’s a fair counterpoint — Sewell’s 89.6% pass block win rate last season fell outside the top 40 tackles in the league, his worst mark since his rookie year.
Why Sewell edged Wirfs and Williams
The gap at the top was thin. Wirfs, last year’s No. 1, missed five games with a knee injury and looked uneven in stretches after returning — one coordinator noted seeing him beaten off the edge in a way that hadn’t shown up before. Williams, at 37, keeps defying his age with a 92.2% pass block win rate and the best run block win rate in the entire top-10 group, but some scouts believe the decline is coming even if it hasn’t shown up on tape yet.
Sewell’s case is built on volume of respect rather than any single dominant category. He’s made three straight Pro Bowls and been a first-team All-Pro in each of the last three seasons, and voters simply trust him more broadly across both phases of the game than anyone else on the ballot.
| Rank | Player | Team | 2025 Pass Block Win Rate | Last Year’s Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penei Sewell | Detroit Lions | 89.6% | 2 |
| 2 | Trent Williams | San Francisco 49ers | 92.2% | 4 |
| 3 | Tristan Wirfs | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 95.5% | 1 |
| 4 | Jordan Mailata | Philadelphia Eagles | 89.8% | 5 |
| 5 | Laremy Tunsil | Washington Commanders | 91.5% | 7 |
A new side of the line for Sewell
The ranking arrives just as Sewell’s job description is changing. After five seasons anchoring the right side of Detroit’s line, he’s moving to left tackle in 2026 — the same position he played in college at Oregon, where he won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman.
The switch traces back to March, when longtime Lions left tackle Taylor Decker requested and received his release after the two sides couldn’t agree on a restructured contract. Decker had started 145 games over 10 seasons in Detroit. His exit left head coach Dan Campbell without a clear answer at the most demanding pass-protection spot on the roster, guarding quarterback Jared Goff’s blind side.
Campbell didn’t take long to signal where this was headed. Speaking at the NFL’s Annual League Meetings in March, he said the team was ready to move Sewell to left tackle if needed, while stopping short of a formal announcement at the time. Detroit later used its first-round pick on Clemson’s Blake Miller, a right tackle prospect, which all but confirmed Sewell’s move to the left side by process of elimination.
Sewell has been matter-of-fact about relearning a position he hasn’t played regularly since college. Asked about the transition, he told ESPN’s Eric Woodyard that it’s simply a different stance and a different feel, but that it is what it is — and that for now he’s focused on his own footwork before he starts breaking down how other left tackles approach the job.
One NFC executive who ranked Sewell highly framed the position switch as a formality rather than a real question mark, telling ESPN there’s no reason to think it slows him down given how natural he looked there in college.
What it means for Detroit
The Lions have plenty riding on the answer. Detroit missed the playoffs last season at 9-8 after winning the NFC’s No. 1 seed the year before, and an offensive line that once ranked among the league’s best cratered amid a wave of departures — center Frank Ragnow retired, guard Kevin Zeitler left in free agency, and Graham Glasgow was released this offseason on top of Decker’s exit.
Keeping Sewell playing at an All-Pro level while he adjusts to a new side of the formation is central to whatever the Lions hope to be in 2026. It also puts a spotlight on rookie Blake Miller and journeymen Larry Borom and Gio Manu, who will compete to fill the right tackle spot Sewell vacates.
For now, the league’s evaluators have made their verdict clear entering training camp: however Sewell handles the move, he’s still the standard everyone else at his position is measured against.
Full ESPN Top 10 Offensive Tackles for 2026
- Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions
- Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
- Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Jordan Mailata, Philadelphia Eagles
- Laremy Tunsil, Washington Commanders
- Darnell Wright, Chicago Bears
- Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles
- Andrew Thomas, New York Giants
- Joe Alt, Los Angeles Chargers
- Garett Bolles, Denver Broncos
Honorable mentions included Rashawn Slater, Charles Cross, Christian Darrisaw, Dion Dawkins and Paris Johnson Jr., per ESPN.
