In the Detroit Lions' Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers, it was clear where the team was lacking some firepower: on their offensive line. It was a concern all offseason, especially after the retirement of Frank Ragnow and the departure of Kevin Zeitler in free agency. What was left for the Lions was reliance on multiple young linemen, and a guard's ability to flip over to center full-time.
So, it's not all that shocking that the line didn't look sharp against the Packers' strong front line, and against a sprinkle of Micah Parsons. What was shocking, when looking back on Detroit's preseason and training camp, is the fact that they barely ever played rookie lineman Tate Ratledge or Christian Mahogany against anyone that wasn't a fellow Lion in camp.
Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters after the Week 1 loss that that decision might've been a bad one on his part.
"With those two guys, yeah, we could've played them a little bit more, but you're not playing against starters. That's why I like the joint practices."
Campbell concedes Lions could've played young linemen more in preseason
While it's true that Ratledge and Mahogany wouldn't have been going up against starters in the preseason, it's the fact that they could've gotten some good use out of game-type preparation and intensity from fellow backups and rookies that makes this decision tough to justify. Especially after seeing how the two guards did in preseason, it's hard to say that they wouldn't have benefitted from live reps.
This is absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/0SW3LScQxG
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Joint practices only occurred for two weeks out of the entire offseason for Detroit, as well. That's too small of a time to have gotten proper preparation for either guard - especially Mahogany, who had to step up in a big way following the move of Graham Glasgow over to center.
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Now, Detroit is stuck with hoping that Ratledge and Mahogany can improve over the course of the early part of this season. That's a tough pill to swallow knowing that the Lions are soon to square off with two formidable defensive lines featured by the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns.
PFF's grades are a bit shaky at times, but Ratledge and Mahogany wrapped up Week 1 with pass protection grades of 39.2 and 43.9, respectively. For Jared Goff to succeed, the Lions have to hope these truly live reps feed into fast improvement for both guards.