ALLEN PARK — The loss of Jonah Jackson to the Los Angeles Rams left the Detroit Lions’ highly regarded offensive line with a hole in
it. However, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they are apparently signing former Pro Bowl guard Kevin Zeitler, whose 181 career
starts satisfy that demand.
The Lions seem to have locked up one of the league’s most attractive offensive lines once more with the signing of Graham Glasgow to
a three-year contract. The top five would be Glasgow, Zeitler, Penei Sewell, Frank Ragnow, and Taylor Decker.
According to reports, Zeitler will travel to Michigan on Tuesday to complete his physical and sign a one-year contract with the team.
The Baltimore Ravens’ 2012 first-round selection made his only Pro Bowl participation in the previous campaign. As a vital
component of Baltimore’s run-heavy attack, Zeitler started 15 games and enabled Lamar Jackson to reach new heights from the
pocket.
Throughout his twelve NFL seasons, he has also appeared for the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, and Cincinnati Bengals. Zeitler
may slide to the left of Decker because he has played right guard on 12,453 of his 12,459 career snaps.
Zeitler ranked as the 15th-best guard overall by Pro Football Focus among guards who have at least 20% of their team’s snaps. He was
one of the league’s top interior blockers in pass protection even though he was good against the run. Zeitler was ranked second out of
all the guards in that sector by the analytics website. Over 608 pass-blocking repetitions, he gave up just 21 pressures and three sacks.
Throughout the course of the last 10 or more games, he has proven to be one of the most reliable guards, particularly in pass
protection. Zeitler has consistently been ranked by PFF as one of the top guards at preventing the pocket from being smashed.
It’s another iconic Brad Holmes signing since it gives the team unrestricted access to draft picks. The 34-year-old enables the
organization to put off the discussion about a long-term guard for one more season in the hopes of selecting a draft pick who can be
developed into a starter.
Even with this inclusion, it’s unlikely that the Lions’ mock draft selection of another offensive lineman at pick 29 will no longer be
among the most popular ones. Nevertheless, Zeitler has proven to be incredibly resilient, participating in at least 15 games in each
season since 2015. The Lions are getting one of the most dependable and bankable alternatives available on the starting-level free
market if Zeitler stays the guard he’s been, or at least in the ballpark.
Zeitler was rated as the 33rd best free agent overall by PFF. It’s evident that the Lions are adding a starting-caliber player to maintain
their trench-rich roster because the Athletics had the veteran guard at 44th. They also have Colby Sorsdal and Kayode Awosika in the
mix, and Glasgow can be a versatile center in an emergency.
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