Between Cade Mays and Penei Sewell in the Lions' locker room is Christian Mahogany. On the other side of Sewell is Tate Ratledge. Around the corner from Mays is Blake Miller. This is the offensive line as the Lions imagined it. These are likely the five we'll see on the field Sunday against the Packers, for the first time this season.
Sunday will mark the 17th regular season start of Mahogany's career. Offensive line coach Hank Fraley said Tuesday that he likes to "joke with him telling him he's still a rookie, even though it's year three." Within the ribbing is a good reminder: "He's still growing out there," said Fraley.
A leg injury cost Mahogany six games last season, just as he appeared to be finding his footing at left guard. He wasn't the same when he returned. The Lions made a point in the offseason to add real competition for Mahogany's job -- unlike last year -- in the form of Ben Bartch and Juice Scruggs, both of whom who have been starters at left guard on playoff teams.
The battle never quite came to fruition in camp, as Bartch was sidelined by injuries and Scruggs was bumped to center when Mays fractured his wrist. But it picked up again when Bartch returned near the start of the season. Mahogany got the nod in Week 1, and "felt like I was getting in a groove," he said, before going down with a hip injury early in the game. Bartch played well in Mahogany's stead. For a week, anyway, it looked like Bartch might keep the job.
A foot injury has since knocked him out of the picture, which paved the way for Mahogany to step back in as the starter in Week 3. He's responded with his steadiest stretch of play in the NFL. Asked recently if the competition for his job fueled his internal fire, Mahogany said: "Of course. That's a natural reaction. Like, OK, you want to show them why you deserve to be here and get the opportunity to start."
Next to Sewell, Mahogany doesn't need to be perfect. He just needs to be predictable. In his own word, consistent: "That's my biggest MO," he said. With the rest of the offensive line settling into place, Mahogany feels like one of the X-factors of the rest of Detroit's season. Due to injuries, attrition and decline, the O-line -- for so long the Lions' engine -- broke down by the end of last season. It's starting to hum again.
Sewell looks even better at left tackle than he did at right, according to Dan Campbell. (Mahogany agrees.) On the other end of the line, Blake Miller and Tate Ratledge are emerging as one of the best young tackle-guard duos in the league. And the Lions are about to plug their marquee free agent acquisition in at center, with Mays set to make his season debut Sunday. Scruggs played well in Mays' absence, but as Campbell said this week, "There’s a reason why we signed Cade." That is, he's our guy.
That leaves left guard as maybe the lone question mark. If Mahogany can maintain his recent level of play, there's your answer. And there's the look of a really good line again. Asked if he can sense his own importance to the unit, Mahogany said, "I don’t really think about it like that."
"It’s just, I look to my left, I look to my right, I know these guys, and I can’t let them down. And I sense that more maybe this year rather than last year. I don’t want to let my teammates down. I think I’ve taken it more personally in that regard, especially because the guy to my left takes everything so methodical, so important to him, and I’m held to that standard," Mahogany said. "I wouldn’t call myself the X-factor. I think we all are playing the role that we’re supposed to be, I think we’re really gelling as one and it’s all coming together, and it’s pretty special right now to see."
No, the offensive line won't be as dominant as it was in 2023 and 2024 when it featured veteran stalwarts at every position. That would be an unfair ask of a mostly green group. But when Campbell said this week that he feels better about the Lions coming out of the bye this year than last year, despite a lesser record, it was largely because the offensive line has so much room to grow. Last year at this time it had almost none.
"Sometimes you feel like you're topped off and maybe you're beginning to deteriorate because of issues, worn down, age, whatever it is," Campbell said. "I do feel like we're on the rise here a little bit."
The players can sense it themselves.
"I’m not discrediting any of the older guys, but we’re a lot younger," Mahogany said. "We don’t have any egos in our room because we’re all so young. We’re all pretty much the same age -- it’s just different numbers of years in the NFL -- and we’re gonna just keep growing. It’s really incredible to see."
It's not a matter of the offensive line reclaiming its old level, at least not yet. But it's morphing back into a strength of the team, which is central to the Lions' identity around Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs. If Mahogany's rise continues, the ceiling for this season rises with it, with all six division battles to come.
Mahogany played strictly right guard in his final two seasons at Boston College, sandwiched around a lost year due to a torn ACL. Last season was his first time getting consistent reps at left guard since his freshman season in ... 2020. In his search for more consistency at this level, Mahogany said "I definitely feel better" than last year.
"I feel more comfortable overall on the left side. I don't know if that’s just a lot more banked reps in the offseason, taking another step. Just wanted to take that step for my teammates most importantly, and gotta continue doing that. But right now, I feel like we’re on a solid line and we just gotta keep trending upward," he said. "I feel good, I feel like we’re all clicking at a high level."
Mahogany, for what it's worth, ranks fourth among NFL guards this season, per PFF. Two of the guys ahead of him are two of the best at the position: Quenton Nelson of the Colts and Quinn Meinerz of the Broncos. Ratledge ranks 16th.
Again, Mahogany remains a work in progress. So does the offensive line, which has struggled to find a rhythm early in games. That's been the root of Detroit's issues in the first quarter. Week 5 in Arizona was the most glaring example, with the Lions going 3-and-out on their first three drives. And nearly their first four.
The rest of the game was proof of Campbell's point: this offensive line is coming to life. Gibbs averaged three yards on his first four touches. He averaged 7.5 from there on out. On Gibbs' first successful carry, Mahogany and Sewell opened the hole on the left side. On Gibbs' first explosive carry, a 16-yarder that set up Detroit's first touchdown, Mahogany worked a double team with Scruggs, then picked off a linebacker, then joined the pile that pushed Gibbs down to the goal line.
"If you notice, the last game — what have you done for us lately — the effort he plays with lately has just been outstanding, down the field, in the trenches, cleaning the pocket," said Fraley. "You see that on the field, but the daily routine, being more of a professional, doing things right on the practice field, the weight room, he’s growing as an individual and it’s only going to pay off for him."
With the Lions facing 4th and 3 on their fourth drive, still seeking a first down, the Cardinals showed one look then shifted into another, and Goff checked into a new play as Mahogany turned around to communicate with his quarterback. Mahogany wound up passing off one rusher to Scruggs, then plucked another off Sewell -- a habit in which Mahogany takes pride. Goff had plenty of time to hit Sam LaPorta over the middle, and the offense never looked back.
Facing another fourth down in the red zone a couple drives later, Goff and Mahogany again communicated at the line as Goff made an adjustment. Mahogany did his job against defensive tackle Walter Nolen, a 2025 first-rounder and one of the Cardinals' only playmakers up front, everyone else did theirs, and Goff hit Jameson Williams streaking across the end zone to put the Lions up 21-7.
The necessary caveat here is that Arizona's defense does not pose many problems. It lacks talent, especially in the front seven. The Cardinals rushed four for most of the day, and Detroit's offensive line simply did as it was supposed to do. Much bigger tests loom, with the Packers and Vikings on deck. But Mahogany's growth looks and feels real, especially next to Sewell.
"He’s ascending," said Fraley. "The more you see the picture and the way it changes -- that’s the difference in O-line play across the league -- when the picture changes on you, can you react and respond to your rules? I think we’re seeing some young guys starting to develop that. Defenses are showing you one front and all of a sudden they move right before the snap, you better know how to respond in protection and the run game.
"And you just grow from it, either good or bad. That’s all we’re trying to do, is learn from the hiccups we’ve already had this season and make sure they don’t repeat themselves."
Back in college, Mahogany fantasized about hitting deuce blocks in the NFL with Sewell. This is when he was a right guard, and Sewell was a right tackle. Mahogany told his boys that Detroit would be "a premier spot" to land. As Mahogany and Sewell teamed up on the left this summer, Mahogany smiled and said, "Running duo next to Penei Sewell is, like, Tier 1 in football terms. It’s the greatest thing known to man."
"And now it’s an everyday thing," he said Tuesday. "And we talk a lot, like, how do we want our technique, ‘Are you gonna do this here? Am I gonna do this? If we do this, what's their reaction?’ With stunts and games and stuff, I feel like we’ve been pretty crisp, we talk mid-play, I feel we almost have full-blown conversations, I’m like, ‘Go, go, go!’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, you go!’ It feels like we’ve been playing together for a long time right now."
In reality, they're just getting started. And with Mahogany emerging, Mays returning and the engine churning, the offensive line is getting started anew.
