Detroit Lions: Position by position breakdown of the 53-man roster
By Reuben Gasee
Offensive Line
- LT: Taylor Decker #68
- LT: Matt Nelson #67
- LG: Joe Dahl #66
- LG: Logan Stenberg #61
- C: Frank Ragnow #77
- RG: Jonah Jackson #73
- RG: Oday Aboushi #76
- RT: Halapoulivaati Vaitai #72
- RT: Tyrell Crosby #65
Throughout the whole offseason, the Lions front office made it a priority to beef up the offensive line in order to better protect Stafford and the running backs. They did a good job of doing so.
At left tackle, the Lions have Taylor Decker and backing him up is Matt Nelson. The Lions just recently gave Decker an $85 million contract which keeps him with the team until the 2024 season.
Beside Decker will be Joe Dahl with rookie fourth-round pick Logan Stenberg behind him on the depth chart. Dahl played in 13 games last season before he went down with an injury. If he were to go down with another injury in the 2020 season, the Lions will have a fierce guard in Stenberg that will be able to step in who didn’t allow a sack at Kentucky last year.
Snapping the ball to Stafford at centre will be Frank Ragnow. Ragnow was the Lions first-round pick of the 2018 draft.
On the right of Ragnow at the guard position will be rookie Jonah Jackson who was selected in the third-round. He was named to the first team in the Big 10 in his final year of college at Ohio State. If he struggles in his rookie year, the Lions can give starting right guard duties to Oday Aboushi who they just recently re-signed as he enters his eighth season in the league.
On the outside of the line on the right, will be Halapoulivaati Vaitai who the Lions gave a five-year contract despite only starting 20 games in his career. Backing him up is Tyrell Crosby.
The Lions are hoping that the starting offensive line of Decker, Dahl, Ragnow, Jackson and Vaitai will do a good job blocking and protecting Stafford. While Decker and Ragnow have Pro Bowl potential, there are some risks associated with Jackson and Vaitai due to their inexperience.