Following a down campaign for Graham Glasgow, and with the departure of Kevin Zeitler in free agency this offseason, the Detroit Lions have a pair of starting guard spots up for grabs.
With reporters in attendance for the latest practice of OTAs on Friday, the Lions used four different players at guard on the first-team offense, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.
Those four players were Glasgow, this year’s second-round pick out of Georgia, Tate Ratledge, sophomore lineman Christian Mahogany and fifth-year veteran Kayode Awosika.
Twentyman notes that Ratledge and Glasgow rotated at both right guard and center with Frank Ragnow not present as he seeks a new contract. Mahogany took the majority of reps at left guard, and Awosika saw some reps on the right side.
“One of the best competitions to keep an eye on once camp starts will be for the starting right and left guard spots,” Twentyman wrote. “Second-round pick Tate Ratledge was moving between center and right guard with the first-team offense as Frank Ragnow was not taking part in practice Friday. He rotated spots with veteran Graham Glasgow, who was also playing some center and right guard. Second-year player Christian Mahogany was almost exclusively playing left guard with the first team. Veteran Kayode Awosika also mixed in with the first team at right guard. That will be a fun competition to watch all camp long.”
While it’s still very early, the fact that Mahogany took most of the reps at left guard is a good sign for his chances of starting. We’d consider Mahogany one of the favorites to land a starting job at guard after his impressive showings in 2024.
In his lone start in the regular season, Mahogany did not surrender a sack and gave up just one pressure while posting Pro Football Focus grades of 82.5 in pass-blocking and 70.4 in run-blocking.
Then, Mahogany was called upon to start in the playoffs and didn’t disappoint, either. He posted an elite 91.9 run-blocking grade and a strong 78.6 grade in pass protection while surrendering three pressures. His overall grade of 92.3 was the third-best among all players who took part in the divisional round.
Awosika, who has been a career backup, is definitely the underdog of the group. He has far less starting experience than Glasgow, and the Lions spent significant draft capital on Ratledge.
If we had to make a prediction now, we’d bet on Mahogany and Glasgow coming away with the two jobs, but Ratledge will be lurking if either one falters.
