Jonah Jackson out. Kevin Zeitler in.
The Detroit Lions reportedly inked the veteran interior offensive lineman to a one-year deal Monday evening.
Zeitler, who has played 12,035 of his 12,041 career NFL snaps at right guard (per Pro Football Focus), was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2012 draft.
Most recently, the 34-year-old suited up for the Baltimore Ravens. He spent three seasons blocking for two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, earning Pro Bowl honors for the first time in 2023.
From all accounts, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes struck free-agent gold with Zeitler.
He provides the Lions with a high-level temporary fix at one of the guard spots, and I’ll say likely at right guard, with his breadth of experience at the position. With the move, I’m expecting fellow veteran lineman Graham Glasgow – who was recently re-signed by Detroit – to slide over to left guard, which was manned by Jackson a season ago.
With Zeitler in the fold, the Lions now have a player ranked 15th or better at their respective position, according to Pro Football Focus, at every spot along the offensive line. Per PFF, the former Ravens lineman finished as the 15th-best guard in the league in 2023, with a 71.6 overall grade. Meanwhile, Jackson, in case you were wondering, earned the 34th-best overall mark among all guards a season ago (61.0).
Subsequently, you can certainly make the argument that Holmes & Co. upgraded in replacing Jackson with Zeitler for the upcoming season.
Lions Signing OL Kevin Zeitler
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In Zeitler, Detroit is getting the definition of a proficient pass-blocker. According to PFF, the savvy guard allowed just two sacks in his final campaign with the Ravens. For his efforts, he finished with the 10th-best pass-block win rate among all guards (93.8 percent). Plus, he earned the second-highest PFF pass-blocking grade for a player at his position (82.3).
It was a productive campaign for the Wisconsin product, who received a similarly high PFF pass-blocking mark in 2022 (81.6). The aforementioned grade, by the way, was the fourth-best pass-blocking mark among guards in ‘22.
Equally impressive, Zeitler has proven to be ultra durable throughout his NFL career. He’s played in 15-or-more games in each of the past nine seasons, including a full season’s worth of games in six of those seasons.
Along with that, he’s suited up for at least 97 percent of his team’s offensive snaps each year since 2015. Additionally, he logged a minimum of 99 percent of his squad’s offensive snaps from 2015-2022. In 2023, Zeitler battled through some knee and quad ailments, causing his snap percentage to dip a bit.
All in all, Zeitler should be a welcomed addition along the interior of the Lions’ offensive line. And most importantly, he’ll help ensure that Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff has a clean pocket to work with in 2024.
