Christian Mahogany predicted to fall short in competition for Lions starting guard job

Mike Moraitis

Christian Mahogany predicted to fall short in competition for Lions starting guard job image

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions find themselves with a massive hole to fill along the offensive line after the team lost veteran guard Kevin Zeitler to the Tennessee Titans in free agency.

Going into the draft, the Lions' best options to replace Zeitler were 2024 sixth-round pick, Christian Mahogany, and veteran Kayode Awosika. However, Detroit then added both Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier in the 2025 NFL draft.

Now, those four are expected to compete for one of the guard spots, and there is even some thought that perhaps Graham Glasgow's job could be in danger as he comes off a down year.

However, Bleacher Report's Moe Moton thinks Glasgow is safe for now, but he did predict that Ratledge would ultimately come away with the starting job opposite the veteran, beating out Frazier, Mahogany and Awosika.

Offense: QB Jared Goff, RB David Montgomery, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Jameson Williams, WR Tim Patrick, TE Sam LaPorta, LT Taylor Decker, LG Graham Glasgow, C Frank Ragnow, RG Tate Ratledge, RT Penei Sewell

After that, the unit has questions at both guard spots with Kevin Zeitler's departure and Glasgow nearing the end of his career. That opens the door for young players like Ratledge, Christian Mahogany and Miles Frazier.

We tend to believe the opposite and think that it will be Mahogany who ultimately lands the starting gig across from Glasgow.

Mahogany doesn't have much experience under his belt, but he did manage to shine in both of his starts last season, one of which came in the playoffs. That gives him a big edge over Ratledge and Frazier, and we just don't think Awosika is anything more than a backup.

In his regular season start, Mahogany gave up just one pressure but no sacks and had Pro Football Focus grades of 82.5 in pass-blocking and 70.4 in run-blocking.

Then, in a pressure-packed situation in the postseason, Mahogany held his own with one sack and three pressures allowed while posting PFF grades of 72.6 and 91.9 in pass-blocking and run-blocking, respectively.

Making the Boston College product's showing more impressive is the fact that he didn't even have a full offseason after battling mono.

When it comes to a starting competition along the offensive line, we're taking Mahogany over the rest of his competitors.

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Mike Moraitis

Mike Moraitis is a freelance writer who covers the NFL for the Sporting News. Over his nearly two decades covering sports, Mike has also worked for Bleacher Report, USA TODAY and FanSided. He hates writing in the third person.