Oregon Football: Penei Sewell could help Ducks land 5-star OT Josh Conerly

Penei Sewell hasn’t played a game for Oregon in about two years and he’s still having a positive impact on the Ducks.

The former top-60 recruit was just taken No. 7 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions and he had a wildly successful two-year playing career at Oregon. He was one of the best offensive linemen in all of college football and now he’s the future in the trenches with the Lions.

One NFL coach even went as far as saying he’s the sure-fire Hall of Famer in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

All of this is going to help the Ducks in the recruiting landscape and Mario Cristobal may get his first real shot to use that as a pitch when he focuses on five-star tackle Josh Conerly.

Earlier this week, Conerly listed the Ducks in his top 12.

The nation’s No. 2 offensive tackle in the 2022 class also has USC, UCLA, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Auburn, Washington, Cal, Stanford, and Arizona State on his trimmed list.

But there’s one thing none of those schools had in 2021: an offensive tackle drafted in the top 10.

While this might not seem like a big deal, he could see the coaching he got from Cristobal and Alex Mirabel and realize that he could be in for a big payday when it comes time to get drafted because Oregon has been solid in the trenches for years.

Oregon football’s pursuit of Conerly

The 6-5, 275-pound tackle from Seattle, Wash., might currently be looked at as a Huskies lean because that’s his city, but any football recruit from the Pacific Northwest grew up dreaming of playing for Oregon — Washington is right there, too.

Conerly seems like he wants to stay in the Pac-12 with most of his list consisting of teams from the league but the Ducks have to feel good about their chances, especially since they can use Sewell as a recruiting tactic.

Want to be drafted in the top 10? Come to Oregon and get coached by some of the best.

It’s going to be tough to wrestle him away from Washington or teams like USC, Alabama, and Oklahoma. The Ducks have a prime opportunity to capitalize on the Sewell selection by the Lions and the fact that they’re making a strong impression on the No. 15 prospect in the 2022 class is no surprise.