If you were very online during the 2026 offseason, you probably saw quite a few Houston Texans fans clowning the Detroit Lions a bit for netting Juice Scruggs in their David Montgomery trade.
Those fans were not big on Scruggs from his time on the Texans' offensive line, suggesting that the Lions would eventually regret incorporating him into their regular O-line depth.
Now, those fans are staring wide-eyed at what the Lions, and offensive line coach Hank Fraley, have been able to get out of Scruggs. He's the 3rd highest graded center through three games this season, and has done a great job of adapting to the position in a pinch.
Amid Cade Mays' impending return from the IR, though, a big question now looms over the Lions' coaching staff: do they immediately re-shuffle the line to accomodate Mays' return, or do they continue to ride out Scruggs' time as long as they can?
To be honest, I think they should do the latter.
Scruggs' dominance should force Lions to give Mays more time to recover
When asked about Mays' timeline for a recovery on Monday, head coach Dan Campbell told reporters that Mays wanted to go for Week 4, but the team wants to give him some more time.
"He's trending the right way, he's doing well. But, I think that'd be a tall task. That was kind of always the goal, to get him after the bye. He's doing a good job right now, but I don't wanna put a timetable on it."
Detroit's bye week is in Week 6, and Week 7 is a big game - against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are struggling to find their footing right now, but there's a chance they'll have Micah Parsons back for this contest. Regardless, they'll be hungry for a big NFC North win on the road, so having a strong offensive line to protect Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs will be key.
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That's why it feels just a bit risky to throw Mays out into the starting lineup for this contest when Scruggs is playing so well. It'd be one thing if the Lions were still dealing with Graham Glasgow at center, and they were hungry to get a legitimate starting center back for this game. But, Scruggs and Goff have a rhythm that'd be tough to break just to get Mays reps in a big divisional game.
Of course, the Lions' next game after this one is even tougher - against the Minnesota Vikings and their formidable defense. So, it's a pick your poison situation. Do you get Mays back into a rhythm against Green Bay and, potentially, Parsons? Or, do you wait and put him back in the starting line against the Vikings?
This feels like one of the toughest choices for the Lions to make in a while. This is the difference between having a fighting shot at going 2-0 against the division ahead of their Thanksgiving linkup with Ben Johnson and the Bears, and putting their offense at some risk of sputtering.
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