One of the biggest problems the Detroit Lions had in 2025 was the play of their offensive line, and specifically the interior. Far too often, Jared Goff didn't have time to scan the field, and the offense suffered as a result.
Tate Ratledge was drafted to be a quick solution to that problem, and after a few bumps in the road, he was that. The Lions had hoped they found a building block with Ratledge, and by the end of the 2025 season, it was clear that was the case.
Ratledge settled in and was impressive as the season wore on, and was even able to get some love from PFF as a result of his work. The site named him to their rookie team of the year for last season, and Jim Wyman was impressed with his abilities as the season wore on and he learned the ropes.
"Ratledge was thrust into a starting role sooner than expected with the surprise retirement of Frank Ragnow. While he had his struggles, he definitely found more consistency as the season went along."
"As a pass-blocker, Ratledge’s 58.3 grade is bogged down by some early-season issues, including five different games with that number at 40.0 or below. However, starting in Week 14, Ratledge rattled off a stretch of five games in which he carried at least a 75.0 PFF pass-blocking grade in four of them. In all, Ratledge gave up 24 pressures and two sacks, none of which came after Week 5."
That work was impressive considering the struggles around him up front as well as the injury problems. For Ratledge to keep his head above water and excel this season is commendable. The good news? Not even he was satisfied with his play, even though it was very impressive and launded as such.
Ratledge looks forward to improving next season after solid rookie year
In spite of the fact that most folks can see Ratledge was an elite player for the Lions as a rookie, he wasn't completely satisfied with his results on the field. Heading into 2026, he wants to see some major improvement with his consistency in his second year in the league.
"(My play) progressed over the year, but obviously, (it) wasn't where I wanted it to be, not where this unit wanted it to be. So, I mean, (I) just got to improve on it (and use it) as a building block."
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Ratledge kept his head above water well enough to be very impressive, but even he knows he had a few moments where he realized he was in the NFL for the first time. A few veterans gave him a hard time in the league, and one was a former teammate from Georgia.
"Yeah, Chris Jones was one of them. I mean, that was a different animal. And then one of my old teammates, Jalen (Carter), he got me pretty good in the early drives of that (Philadelphia) game. So, those two were pretty, pretty good."
All of his work qualifies as a learning experience, but it's clear that Ratledge has the talent as well as the motivation to make waves in the league. It's refreshing to hear that an already solid season wasn't close to enough for the standout lineman.