In this installment of our Detroit Lions 2026 training camp preview series, we examine the Lions’ interior offensive line, speculate on current and future roles, and discuss how many players from this group could make the 53-man roster.
Previous training camp previews:
Roster construction
Under the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell regime, the Lions have consistently added offensive linemen as the season progresses. While they typically begin each season with eight to 10 offensive linemen, they’ve consistently finished with 10 or 11 on the active roster.
Let’s take a look at what they’ve done on the interior offensive line in the previous five seasons:
2021: Opened with five IOL (Frank Ragnow, Jonah Jackson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Evan Brown, and Logan Stenberg) but finished with seven (Parker Ehinger, Ryan McCollum).
2022: Opened with six IOL (Ragnow, Jackson, Vaitai, Brown, Stenberg, and Tommy Kraemer), but finished with seven (Kayode Awosika and Ross Pierschbacher; Kraemer landed on IR).
2023: Opened with five IOL (Ragnow, Jackson, Graham Glasgow, Vaitai, and Colby Sorsdal) but finished with six (Awosika).
2024: Opened with five IOL (Ragnow, Kevin Zeitler, Glasgow, Awosika, and Michael Niese), but finished with six after rookie Christian Mahogany was removed from PUP.
2025: Opened with five IOL (Tate Ratledge, Mahogany, Glasgow, Awosika, and Kingsley Eguakun) but finished with six (rookie Miles Frazier was added after a PUP stint, Niese was re-added, and Eguakun was demoted to the practice squad, then poached by the Browns).
Investment at center
The Lions’ offensive line took a step back in 2025, with the majority of the blame falling on the play of the interior positions. Following the sudden retirement of Frank Ragnow, the Lions were forced to alter their approach: they moved Glasgow inside to center, which cleared the way for rookie Tate Ratledge to start at right guard and second-year guard Christian Mahogany to start on the left side. Unfortunately, they struggled from the jump. Their communication faltered; Glasgow looked his age, Ratledge looked like a rookie, and Mahogany failed to live up to the promise he showed in three games as a rookie, while also missing a portion of the season with a broken leg.
The Lions’ top priority this free agency period was to find a new starting center who could anchor the middle of the offensive line. They targeted Cade Mays for the role, and on the opening day of free agency, they signed him to a three-year contract.
Ratledge showed enough growth as a rookie that the Lions appear comfortable with his return to the starting right guard role; however, Mahogany will face competition for his starting left guard job. Both young guards started at their respective roles during OTAs and minicamp in the spring, but Mahogany is expected to be pushed by second-year OL Miles Frazier, newly acquired veteran Ben Bartch, and center/guard hybrid Juice Scruggs (who the Lions acquired in the David Montgomery trade) during training camp.
For additional depth at center, the Lions brought back veteran center Michael Niese and signed center Seth McLaughlin to futures contracts, while guard/tackle hybrids Mason Miller and UDFA rookie Melvin Priestly were also added for more depth inside.
The battleground
How quickly will Cade Mays adapt to the Lions’ scheme?
Mays was the top target in the Lions’ free agency period, and looks like a great stylistic match for new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing’s scheme, but he’ll need to get up to speed quickly with the scheme and his new teammates in order for the offensive line to have success early in the season.
Mays primarily played right guard in college—though he saw snaps at all five OL positions—and was known for his power and ability to pull. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers and repped at right and left guard his first two seasons before shifting him into center in 2024, where he turned a developmental corner. Over the last two seasons, Mays has started 21 games at center, and while he is still relatively young at the position, his upside is evident.
From an athletic standpoint, Mays’ ability to lean into his power, as well as pull and block in space, should give the Lions a skill set they’ve been craving at center since Ragnow’s retirement. The main questions surrounding his impact will center on how quickly he can mentally process what’s asked of him. The talent’s there; now he just needs the reps in training camp and the preseason.
Will Christian Mahogany hold onto his starting LG job?
Mahogany’s power and pulling skill set should blend nicely with Petzing’s offense, and he is expected to enter training camp fully healthy and in the pole position at left guard. However, like most players who don’t reach their potential the year prior, Mahogany will face competition for his job.
Here’s an excerpt from coach Dan Campbell discussing the left guard job in the spring:
“Listen it is open, and look, Mahogany is very much in that. He played a couple of games for us in ’24, and then he started for us until he had the injury, came back, started again. So, we know he has got ability, he’s got potential, but there is a reason why we (added) Bartch, there is a reason why Frazier is here, […] We are going to let this thing go and see what happens. It will be good for all of them, when you have some nipping at your heels or constantly – you are having to compete with and push, and you guys are all competing for the same thing, it is good for everybody.”
Bartch figures to be the biggest challenger for the left guard role, bringing eight years of NFL experience and a terrific athletic profile. However, Bartch has only started 24 games over his career, mainly due to injury. He hasn’t started more than three games in any season since 2022 (when he started five), and didn’t practice in the spring for “precautionary” reasons. Bartch certainly has NFL starting skills, but even if he wins the job out of training camp, how long can he realistically be expected to hold up?
Frazier, like Mahogany, was a Day 3 draft pick who was expected to be taken on Day 2 because of their upside, and both were considered “steals” in their respective drafts. While Mahogany’s path to a starting role was quicker due to situational circumstances, Frazier has similar upside and will get a chance to prove his worth in training camp. Frazier is also being cross-trained at tackle for emergency depth, which further illustrates how the team values his skills and improves his chances of making the 53-man roster.
Overall, this should be one of the more entertaining camp battles to watch in August, and will make for some interesting conversations surrounding roster construction. Is there room to keep two reserve guards on the active roster? Especially considering the fact that Scruggs looks like his role is safe as the primary backup center.
Can Juice Scruggs be the new Graham Glasgow?
When Scruggs was acquired by Detroit, most assumed he would simply operate as Mays’ backup at center, but his experience playing both left and right guard gives him tremendous positional value, similarly to what Glasgow provided the Lions with for multiple seasons. For reference, over the past three seasons in Houston, Scruggs has registered 13 starts (1,045 snaps) at left guard, eight starts (568 snaps) at center, and two starts (216 snaps) at right guard.
That level of experience across three positions is incredibly valuable in an offensive line room, which likely puts his floor as a hybrid reserve with upside. While Mahogany, Bartch, and Frazier are getting the full attention for the battle for the left guard role, it’s worth pointing out that Scruggs also took reps at left guard in the spring and should also be in the mix for the job.
It’s a tough path to the starting lineup for Scruggs, but early expectations are that his Glasgow-like versatility should give him a big advantage in making the roster.
Will there be any surprise challengers?
Niese has been with the Lions, either on the practice squad or active roster, for the past two seasons and has rotated in and out of the reserve center role. He returns for a third season, but looks to start camp behind Mays and Scruggs, and will need to show he has the range to hold up at guard as well, if he hopes to stick around in 2026.
McLaughlin was a two-time National Champion—Alabama in 2020 and Ohio State in 2024—and won the Rimington Award as the nation’s best center during his senior year, but a ruptured Achilles caused him to go undrafted, and he spent his entire rookie season on the Bengals practice squad as he worked his way back from injury. Following the end of the season, he opted not to re-sign with the Bengals in the offseason, and the Lions swooped in to sign him to a futures contract in January. If McLaughlin can return to form, he has the skill set to find a spot on an NFL roster, but he’ll need to show he’s put a difficult injury behind him before he’ll get that shot.
Miller, a 2025 UDFA, received a lot of behind-the-scenes hype from the Lions staff, and while he didn’t make the active roster, he did stick on the Lions practice squad all season and was given a new contract for 2026. A college right tackle with experience playing every OL spot except center, Miller will likely open training camp on the third line but should get opportunities to prove his value.
Priestly, a 2026 UDFA, is quietly being slept on entering training camp but should be a name fans know. With four years of college starting experience (two at left tackle and two at right tackle), along with $220,000 in contractual guarantees (third most given out by the Lions in this UDFA class), Priestly possesses a lot of intangibles the Lions look for in their developmental youth. His path to the 53-man roster is steep, but the Lions typically don’t make this level of investment unless they have a plan for him to make the team in some capacity, practice squad or otherwise.