One position that the Detroit Lions didn't care to shore up this offseason was at guard. They did bring on veteran Ben Bartch in free agency, as well as signing UDFA Melvin Priestly following the draft. Juice Scruggs, who came over in the David Montgomery-Texans trade, can also play guard.
Of course, why would the Lions invest in the position when injuries were what seemed to hamper that room for them in 2025? Tate Ratledge had some shining moments in his rookie year, while Christian Mahogany was slowly but surely improving before suffering a fracture in his leg.
Still, there are skeptics out there who don't see the hype behind the Lions' new interior offensive line made up of Mahogany-Cade Mays-Ratledge. One is ESPN's Aaron Schatz, who believes the Lions' biggest remaining question mark on their roster is specifically at right guard.
"This isn't a hole the Lions are going to try to plug because they're counting on improvement from 2025 second-round pick Tate Ratledge. However, he was a real weakness last season. Ratledge's pass block win rate of 87.4% ranked 63rd out of 65 qualifying guards, and his run block win rate of 69.9% was below average."
Lions' lack of movement for guard help leaving major hole, says ESPN
Ratledge seems ready for a second-year leap, but in Schatz's defense, we didn't see anything spectacular from Ratledge in 2025 to warrant complete silence from them in filling that roster hole. There are still guards worth taking a look at during this wave of free agency, and one is a very familiar face.
Kevin Zeitler remains a free agent following a great year with the Tennessee Titans. The former Lion had an overall PFF grade of 74.5 in 2025, along with a 70.8 run blocking grade. The Lions were 20th in run block win rate as a team in 2025, so adding someone like Zeitler stands to immediately boost them in that statistical category barring health concerns.
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Of course, Detroit also has a potential sleeper in Miles Frazier on the roster at right guard, who has yet to get significant snaps due to injury. If he can create legitimate competition in camp and preseason at right guard, that will benefit Ratledge and the Lions' IOL overall. And, that addresses this purported "hole" very cheaply.
Priestly also gives them cheap optionality at the position. He finished up with a 71.5 pass blocking grade in his final year with Illinois, and he's got the right mindset headed into camp. As of now, though, it does seem like it's Ratledge's starting job to lose - weak rookie year notwithstanding.
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