Detroit Lions backup center Seth McLaughlin is no slouch. The former Ohio State Buckeye had won the 2024 Rimington Trophy, being named the best center in college football that year, only taking a step back thanks to an unfortunate Achilles tear suffered that same year.
However, while McLaughlin feels like the most natural answer at center with it being his primary position, it sounds like Dan Campbell is not looking to him as their starter of choice. Instead, during an interview with Brad Galli for "The Brad Galli Show," Campbell seemed to hint that Juice Scruggs, and even Tate Ratledge, have the edge there.
"It's unfortunate Cade [Mays] went down but, look, there's a reason why we got Juice [Scruggs] in this trade. Juice has played in this league, and he's played a lot of center snaps. He's played guard too, but, center really suits him. And then look, Tate, there's no reason why Tate can't play center. Now, will he need work at it? Yeah, he needs to work at it. Will it take a little bit? Yeah, it can take a little bit. But that's an option, too."
McLaughlin on the outside looking in on Lions center competition
The Lions' sudden competition for the starting center job is interesting. McLaughlin is in the mix, to be sure, but the Lions also lucked out by netting Scruggs in their trade of David Montgomery this offseason. In addition to them, Ratledge is being tried at center, which feels like a long term project in Detroit.
But, the idea of over-investing in Scruggs' potential at center when he's a bit undersized for the position, or throwing Ratledge to the wolves when he played a full season at right guard pretty effectively, feels like a risk. McLaughlin is a center, and he didn't play too badly in preseason. He logged a 62 PFF grade, giving up some pressures and one sack.
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McLaughlin makes the most sense to start for Detroit at center to begin this year. While Scruggs is a completely viable backup, and will likely win a roster spot, McLaughlin has the most experience at the position heading into this season. They cannot have another situation where they throw a guard in at center because he had past experience there, just to watch their pass protection and run blocking stumble.
And, to Campbell's additional point following his quote on the center competition, the rest of the line matters just as much as who wins that center job. Their current guard competition between Ben Bartch, Miles Frazier, and Christian Mahogany is still up in the air, but they need to hone in on whoever gives their run game the largest jolt while protecting Jared Goff consistently.
What Campbell has said about McLaughlin, Ratledge in training camp
Campbell spoke to reporters about McLaughlin's performance in their first preseason game, giving some props to the center for stepping in and doing some good stuff while acknowledging his size is a bit of a downside to his game.
"One of the things we talk about with Seth is, he’s not this enormous person. And, so his niche is playing low. He’s quick, he’s super sharp and he’s really good at the second level. And then pass game is the anchor. He’s just got to bend. He’s got to do, in a lot of cases, he’s got to do double what somebody else does that has more stature, you know, size or stature to him."
On Ratledge, Campbell made it clear that as of now, the team is just trying him at center to prepare him for an emergency situation in which he'd have to step in there.
"Yeah, I think that was just, getting him some reps. I mean, one way or another, he's going to have to be able to help us there if it comes down to that, where he's the guy or he's our next available center at the game if something happens, knock on wood. So I think it was just, you know, that, that's what some of that was."
McLaughlin will have to really step it up these next two weeks in training camp to lock up the starting job, which would be best case scenario for the Lions' offensive line as a whole.
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