We’re one week into Detroit Lions training camp and things aren’t off to a great start when it comes to the team’s center competition.
Battling it out to replace Frank Ragnow is rookie Tate Ratledge and veteran Graham Glasgow. The two have switched off at center thus far in practice.
According to Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire, neither one has looked particularly good.
“Going against (D.J.) Reader and friends hasn’t helped, but both centers have had issues creating movement and also sustaining blocks in the pass game,” Risdon explained. “It’s hard to say who is going to start the season at center.”
From the jump, we’ve considered Glasgow the favorite to take over the center job because of his experience, which is important because the position also requires the ability to identify defensive fronts and call out protections, among other things.
Risdon notes that Ratledge has admitted he’s going to need some time with things like that, especially after not having played the position at Georgia.
“Ratledge is learning the position on the fly, having played right guard at Georgia,” he wrote. “The snapping is there for the eager rookie, but the more cerebral aspects of the job — recognizing the defensive front, calling out protections, working combo blocks — are going to take some time.
“Ratledge himself admitted that after Saturday’s practice, in a chat with Lions legend Lomas Brown that the rookie clearly appreciated,” Risdon added.
For an experienced team with Super Bowl aspirations, it always made the most sense to put Glasgow in the middle, barring Ratledge picking up the position extremely quickly, something we don’t expect to happen.
There is no room for experiments for the 2025 Lions. Glasgow should be the guy.
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