As last week went along, it seemed increasingly likely Detroit Lions left guard Graham Glasgow would miss Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears due to a knee injury.. With that in mind, head coach Dan Campbell said he was comfortable with rookie Christian Mahogany or veteran Kayode Awosika filling in if needed.
Glasgow was indeed inactive on Sunday, and Mahogany started at left guard in his place. The position was not foreign to the Boston College product, as he started 11 games at left guard in 2020, but he shifted to right guard for his last two healthy college seasons (he missed the 2022 season with a torn right ACL).
Christian Mahogany showed himself as a future starter with performance vs. Bears
The Lions took Mahogany in the sixth round of April's draft (pick No. 210). He had been projected as a Day 2 pick by many, but he seems to have fallen due to reasons both reasonable and odd. In any case, he was not going to be an starter this season for the Lions.
But Mahogany's development time as a rookie was derailed by case of mono that cost him training camp. The Lions used the entire 21-day window to activate him off the NFI (non-football injury) list, and put him on the 53-man roster in late-October. Recently, he has been the clear primary backup at guard over Awosika.
Mahogany played all 65 snaps against the Bears on Sunday, with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 70.6 and the second-best pass blocking grade (82.5) for any Lions' offensive lineman (only behind left tackle Taylor Decker's 86.1 mark). His 70.4 run blocking grade was third-best among Lions' linemen. PFF credited Mahogany with just one pressure allowed on 33 pass blocking snaps.
Offensive lineman are often most noticeable when they miss a block badly. Mahogany passed that test to not be noticeable on Sunday, while doing some noticeably good work all-around upon a closer look.
A play like the one below shows a level of savvy Mahogany already has.
#Lions Christin Mahogany (#73) got his first start at LG in Week 16 and I came away impressed.
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) December 23, 2024
Here, the Bears don’t rush a defender in his gap so he checks on Decker’s block then goes looking for work. pic.twitter.com/vvEBMPfeqQ
The longer reel below shows more good work from Mahogany against the Bears. Remember he had played three offensive snaps before Sunday, and he missed the preseason due to his illness. And he hadn't started a game at left guard anywhere since 2020.
Christian Mahogany is the NEXT Brad Holmes GEM
— Crunch Time Sports (@officialctpod) December 23, 2024
A sixth round pick… #OnePride pic.twitter.com/T3thumwQO1
Mahogany had fun in by far his most extensive NFL action so far.
"It was really fun," Mahogany said after Sunday's game, via Lions.com. "Enjoyed every aspect of it and can't wait to see the film and improve."
Mahogany may go back to the bench in Week 17, with Glasgow tentatively likely to return next Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers. Being a natural right guard lines Mahogany up to be the successor to Kevin Zeitler, who is 34 years old and on a one-year deal this year. But playing left guard like he did on Sunday keeps the door open for him to play there too.
Update, 3:30 p.m. ET: During his Monday press conference, Campbell said he expects Glasgow to be ready to go for the 49ers game.
We don't want to overreact to one game. But Mahogany got an opportunity to start on Sunday with Glasgow out, and it could not have gone better as he showed his potential to be a future stalwart on the best offensive line in the NFL.