This Lions starter just proved every Week 1 doubter wrong

It was well-known entering the 2025 season that the Detroit Lions’ interior offensive line would have its ups and downs. That’s to be expected when a franchise great like Frank Ragnow retires and another solid veteran in Kevin Zeitler departs in free agency.

Left guard Christian Mahogany was asked to take arguably the biggest leap of any returning player on Detroit’s offense, going from spot starter as a sixth-round rookie in 2024 to, for now at least, the Lions’ long-term answer at the position.

He looked good in two starts last year against Chicago and Washington, and the Lions felt good about him entering 2025.

But his season didn’t get off to the best start in Week 1.

Mahogany struggled against the Green Bay Packers, allowing two sacks and not getting much push in the run game either. The Lions couldn’t run the ball at all, averaging just 2.1 yards per carry, and quarterback Jared Goff was sacked four times. Detroit lost 27-13 in a slap in the face of a season opener.

It wasn’t a good showing for just about anybody on Detroit’s offense, but the unit responded in a major way in the Lions’ 52-21 demolition of the Chicago Bears in Week 2. And the same went for Mahogany.

Mahogany has huge bounce back in Week 2

In 30 pass protection snaps, Mahogany didn’t allow a single pressure or hurry, as Goff was essentially kept clean all afternoon.

Mahogany did injure his leg late in the game on an extra point, but the injury is not believed to be serious, with Dan Campbell saying Mahogany is “a little sore but he's alright”.

It was just his fourth career start but his second against the Bears, after he made his starting debut in Chicago last year filling in for an injured Graham Glasgow. And while Chicago’s defensive line is clearly nowhere near the same level as Green Bay’s, the improvement is still worth noting considering Detroit couldn’t get anything going on the ground last week.

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Good interior offensive line play is paramount to everything the Lions want to do on offense. They have a vaunted veteran left-right tackle duo in Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell, but if the guards aren’t opening rushing lanes on the interior, Detroit’s options as a rushing offense suddenly become extremely limited.

“It always starts with the O-line here,” Campbell said. “I would say probably most teams, and for sure us. When they play well, it really allows us to do a lot. It allows us to do a lot and that’s a prideful unit. There again, we had a couple of young guys in there that I thought played better, and they’re only going to get better the more reps they get. So, that was good to see.”

Mahogany’s improved play is a big thing to see for Detroit, and he’ll need to stack an even better game on top of it next Monday when the Lions travel to Baltimore and square off against the Ravens’ talented interior duo of Nnamdi Madubuike and Travis Jones.