ALLEN PARK -- One of the big questions entering this season would be how the Detroit Lions respond to remaking their interior offensive line.
They were already staring down the likelihood of starting two new guards, and then star center Frank Ragnow announced his retirement. The Lions played around with moving rookie guard Tate Ratledge to center early in training camp. But after the first week, they put veteran Graham Glasgow in the middle and haven’t looked back.
There have been some learning curves along the way, especially the communication meltdown in the opener against the Green Bay Packers. But both Christian Mahogany and Ratledge have shown serious promise, with Glasgow serving as the calming presence steering the new-look ship.
“I love Graham. Graham’s the same guy every day,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Get the job done, ‘What do you want, got him, I’m excited’ ... Graham has been an ultimate pro, man, he’s a smart guy. He’s headsy, he’s played a lot of ball. He’s thick in there; he can anchor. I feel like he’s kind of calmed us down in there. I think he’s really helped those two young guys, and so have (Taylor) Decker and (Penei) Sewell.
“But I go back to this, I mentioned this to those young guys too, speaking of the guards. They’re not young anymore. I told them that — that’s done. We’re at the halfway point here; they’re veterans now. And they’re expected to play good ball, and even better every week. And they are improving. Graham’s been great. That was a good move getting him in there. He’s helped stabilize us in there in the middle.”
Campbell credited Mahogany and Ratledge for growing. But as he said, the standard is the standard, and there are high expectations for Detroit’s offensive line to remain among the NFL’s elite.
“There’s a lot to go and they know that. There’s so much room to get better, and I expect them to take another step -- they’re going to need to take another step,” Campbell said. “They know that -- because when that happens, then collectively, we’ll all get better and that whole unit will get better.
“But from where we came from in Green Bay, they have taken noticeable jumps. So, I like where they’re trending. We’ve got to keep going.”
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Take out the ugly season opener, and Pro Football Focus ranks Ratledge 22nd and Mahogany 29th among guards with enough snaps to qualify. Ratledge has allowed one sack and seven pressures, while Mahogany hasn’t surrendered a sack to go along with only four pressures allowed.
Ratledge has grown into his role and forms a nasty double-team in the ground game with Sewell on his hip. Mahogany has provided stability on the left side of the line as the Lions have started three left tackles through seven games, as Decker works through his shoulder issues.
Detroit’s rushing game and third-down conversion rate have dropped from last season’s elite figures. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery have each enjoyed big games, but the consistency we’ve all come to expect hasn’t been there.
The Lions are confident their extra attention paid to third-down work during the bye and continued growth from their young guards will push them forward.
“They’re right where we want them to be,” Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley said of the team’s young guards before the bye week. “And I know they’re not where they want to be career-wise, but that’s going to come. You know, they’re still writing their pages in their first chapter of their book, and each week’s a new page for that.
“But I love where they’re at. I love how they’re playing. They play with their hair on fire, you know, I always call Christian a dirtbag, and that’s what I want those guys to be, those guys -- guards and physicality, and that’s what they like. And they love to pull and hit people, and that’s the type of alignment you want to have. And especially being guards in this league when we do a little bit of everything.”
Fraley reiterated that Mahogany and Ratledge are trending in the right direction, and that’s all the Lions could ask for heading into Week 8.
“You know, we’re not perfect,” Fraley said. “But we’re getting there.”
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