Frankie Luvu, one of the Washington Commanders' best defenders, is set to be available against the Detroit Lions in Week 10.
This is a bit of a nightmare scenario for a Lions offensive line that's reeling from a major injury to left guard Christian Mahogany, and as the team scrambles to find the right combination on the line to drastically improve their pass protection this season.
Luvu, who has two sacks, one forced fumble, and two passes defended so far this season, was instrumental to disrupting the Lions' NFC Divisional Round effort in 2024, when Washington shocked pundits by steamrolling through Detroit en route to an NFC Championship appearance.
With him now set to play against Detroit for Week 10, it feels like it's just another test for an offensive line that's facing a ton of scrutiny as of late.
Lions set to face yet another pass rush test vs. Commanders
Luvu will likely get slotted against the Lions' tackles, which is a bit better than expecting their guard-center-guard formation to deal with him. But, he does have the ability to leap through those gaps and cause some problems for Detroit's run game, which is where the concern lies for the Lions' O-line.
At the trade deadline, the Lions made no moves for a lineman following news that Mahogany would be out for almost the entire rest of the season with a fractured ankle. It's hard to trade for starting caliber guards in this league, and it was probably difficult for the Lions to not want to give their reserves a shot at filling in for him.
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They have Kingsley Eguakun and Trystan Colon waiting in the wings, and Colon and Eguakun both have experience playing center. Perhaps the Lions can shuffle one of these players into center and move Graham Glasgow over to left guard, with their newly signed rookie guard Jack Conley a potential candidate for a call-up in case of emergency.
It's not what you want to hear if you're a Lions fan who does believe this team can finally break through and reach the Super Bowl this year. Mixing and matching your offensive line with nine games left and plenty of contenders to square off with isn't ideal. But, it's helpful that the Lions have a pretty playable group of linemen for this exact situation.
Whether or not they can hold up against Luvu and the Commanders' pass rush is another story.