The Detroit Lions seem to know exactly what they're doing with a few young pieces of their offensive line, with one player seemingly primed to become the next center for Detroit in 2026 and beyond.
During his final press conference for the 2025 season, general manager Brad Holmes told reporters that the team will be aiming to address their holes along the offensive line through all means: the draft, free agency, and trades. One position that they seem to have some idea about already, though, is at center.
"Obviously, you know, Tate is obviously an option, for sure. He's done it before. He did it in OTAs. Didn't think he was a fish out of water. All the reps, all the rookie snaps, he may have played the most snaps of any rookie O-lineman all year. We know that he's an option."
Holmes offers glimpse into Lions' plans at center, along entire O-line for 2026
Ratledge might be at least one piece to add to the center competition, but the Lions are obviously going to need to consider addressing two other areas as fallout from that potential move: their right guard, and at left tackle. Left tackle, of course, is up in the air with Taylor Decker potentially retiring this offseason.
"If it happens, it's never been ignored. You know it's going to come at some point...We drafted Manu as a developmental guy, expecting it'd take a few years before he took some steps forward. But it'd be irresponsible to be like, we drafted a developmental guy, and he's going to be the guy. It sometimes just doesn't work out as well as we want to."
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He added that regardless of the urgency for the Lions to see Manu to take a big leap, he'll need to earn a role on the line as a starter.
"Manu, you know, he's taken steps. He's, as always, going to have to win a job. He'll have to beat somebody out. As much as we're going to surround him with resources, he's going to have to compete."
Manu was so-so in limited snaps this season, but injuries and a lack of development will continue to haunt him headed into his 2026 season. Even if Decker retires, as Holmes noted, he will have competition at the left tackle position that he'll need to beat out to be considered the starter moving forward.
It's paramount that the Lions hit on that position given how badly they struggled in pass protection this season, and they can't mess around with just hoping Manu will turn into their answer. They need a clear, cut one.