The Detroit Lions have quite a few interesting camp battles to follow in the month of August. Safety, cornerback, nickel back, right tackle, and left guard all feel fairly up for grabs with just two months until the start to a pivotal season.
Left guard, specifically, seems to be more open than originally thought. Christian Mahogany did an OK job taking over that starting job last season, but injuries kept him out for some time, and he didn't seem 100% ready to play once he did return from suffering a fracture in his leg. As a result, it's hard to say that he has the starting job outright.
Now, you can really argue that this is going to be one of the more open competitions in training camp, with the Lions announcing on Tuesday that Mahogany is on the active/non-football injury list to start camp.
The following player has been released:
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) July 28, 2026
DL Jay Tufele
The following player have been declared Active/Non-Football Illness:
DB Christian Izien
The following player have been declared Active/Non-Football Injury:
OL Christian Mahogany pic.twitter.com/fcqeEm7L0E
Open competition at LG just got even more interesting
Detroit's left guard battle is between Mahogany, Ben Bartch, Juice Scruggs, Miles Frazier, and potentially Giovanni Manu. Bartch is coming off a foot injury suffered last season, and he didn't get burn in minicamp or OTAs as a result. But, in limited opportunities for the San Francisco 49ers last season, he looked very solid at the position.
Scruggs could use some work, as well as Frazier, but both are young and worth investing some coaching in during training camp.
They are absolutely threats to Mahogany's status as the teams' starting left guard, despite their experience levels. With Manu, it's a little bit of a wild card situation. The team just started experimenting with the 2024 draft pick at guard rather than at tackle, and it sounded like the early returns were solid from those reps.
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Head coach Dan Campbell had this to say about that open competition back in May:
"Look, Mahogany is very much in that. He played a bunch of games for us in 24, started again, until he had the injury. We know he’s got to build, he’s got potential. There’s a reason we brought in Bartch, we have Frazier, we might try Manu a little bit. I mean, we’re going to let this thing go and see what happens. When you’ve got someone nipping at yourr feels constantly, it’s good for everybody."
All this to say, Mahogany really cannot afford to miss out on much training camp this year, especially with the Lions throwing anything at the wall with respect to their offensive line. Time off the field, means more time for Bartch, Scruggs, or Frazier to move up the depth chart.
Safety Christian Izien, who was taking starters snaps during minicamp and OTAs, was also listed with an active/non-football illness designation, and hopefully whatever ails him isn't too serious as we kick off with training camp.
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