ALLEN PARK -- After not making any additions at the trade deadline, the Detroit Lions are considering moving some pieces around on their offensive line.
Dan Campbell hinted at the possibility during his radio appearance with 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday. And the Lions coach left the door open to move players around on the interior offensive line when speaking to reporters in Allen Park on Wednesday.
Starting left guard Christian Mahogany is out until at least late December. The Lions have Kayode Awosika and Trystan Colon as their top in-house options to take over for Mahogany.
But Colon’s versatility between guard and center is causing Campbell to consider potentially moving Graham Glasgow back from center to guard. The first plan is to put Awosika at left guard in practice this week, while trying out a couple of other options.
“So, that’s kind of where I’m at now,” Campbell said. “Doesn’t mean that I will do it, but I mean I’d like to do it today, at least a play or two and see what that looks like, see where we’re at. Maybe some walkthrough reps.”
When asked if he’s considered moving Glasgow from center to guard, and Colon to center, the Lions coach said:
“I’ve considered everything, yeah. I’ve considered everything.”
Glasgow said the idea of him switching from center to guard was news to him in the locker room on Wednesday.
“I’m interested in whatever, I guess,” Glasgow said. “I don’t know. I mean, I hadn’t heard anything about that, but I mean, I don’t think so. We’ll see.”
The veteran offensive lineman played mostly right guard in his first season back in Detroit in 2023. Then, he switched to left guard last season and has served as the team’s starting center in every game this year. Through his career, he’s played more than 2,000 snaps across left guard, center and right guard throughout his career.
Through eight games, Glasgow ranks 29th of the 38 centers with enough snaps to qualify, per Pro Football Focus. He allowed a season-high three pressures and his first sack surrendered of the year last week in the tough showing against the Vikings.
As for Colon, switching from center to guard is also nothing new to him. Glasgow has played a ton of guard in his past, and the Lions seem interested in seeing if he might improve with a potential switch.
Colon started seven games at right guard for the Arizona Cardinals last season. He also handled left guard duties on the fly in 2023, but played more center at the beginning of his career with the Baltimore Ravens.
“So, like, everywhere I’ve been, I’m always good. I get center reps,“ Colon said in the locker room on Wednesday. ”Gotta make sure I’m being able to snap the ball and things like that ... I joked around with coach today. I was like, you know, when you start playing center, you set right, you set left, you block right, you block left. So it’s a pretty nice, easy contrast to be able to play center and guard.
“I just play O-line, man. That’s why I tell everybody it’s offensive line.”
Colon said he played the normal amount of center in Wednesday’s practice, with some scout team work and spelling Glasgow for a play or two.
The interior offensive line got hit hard last week, even before Mahogany went down. Minnesota’s blitz-happy defense was wreaking havoc from start to finish, and they clearly saw a spot to hit the Lions. The Vikings used a ton of cross-dog blitzes targeting the interior. A cross dog blitz is when two linebackers blitz, crossing each other’s path in the process, with the last one through coming off the hip of the first linebacker through to create chaos and tough decisions in the backfield.
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs struggled in blitz pick duties, allowing seven pressures and three sacks. The Lions allowed five sacks, 10 quarterback hits and 26 pressures in the ugly loss altogether.
“Every team in this league runs freaking cross dog, so we’ve got to be ready for it,” Campbell said on 97.1. " We have to handle it. We can be better. And then we can adjust as coaches. But it’s a combination of things.
“It’s everybody being on the same page. It’s how you set when you know some of these pick stunts are coming. It all matters, and it doesn’t matter if you’re young or a veteran, you’ve got to do it right every time.”
Lions quarterback Jared Goff has already been sacked 18 times this season. If that pace sticks for the rest of the campaign, Goff will go down the most times in his 10-year career.
He expressed confidence in the offensive line figuring it out, no matter who joins the starting lineup or if any configuration changes take place. Goff is also well aware that teams will see what the Vikings did by targeting the interior to make noise.
“Teams are going to keep trying you until you show you can stop it,” Goff said. “It’s no different for us offensively. If we see something on defense that a team’s having a hard time with, you try it again, see if they fixed it. And if they haven’t, you keep exploiting it.”
Glasgow echoed his quarterback, saying that it’s a copycat league, and other teams are sure to see what the Vikings did against them. He said it’s all on them to make those looks go away, because if they stop it, “then it just disappears.”
“So, we’re working on it. To me, it just seems like when we stay on schedule, we move the ball,” Glasgow said. “Well, when we’re not on schedule, we don’t. And I mean, I feel like that seems to be the case, probably not just for us, but for a lot of other teams around the NFL, too.”
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