Jake Slaughter wears reading glasses. He has light brown hair parted down the middle and a goatee like Dan Campbell's. Standing in front of reporters at the NFL combine last week, Slaughter was told he looks more like a history professor at the University of Florida than a football player. Fitting, frankly, for a center with such a mind for the game.
"Bro, he's smart as hell," said Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks, a likely first-round pick who sparred frequently with Slaughter the past few years in practice. "This guy knows the game in and out. He knows the fine-tunes, he knows exactly what to do. And as a center you’re supposed to know that, but he’s a little bit (different), he’s got a lot of technique."
Then again, says Banks, don't let the looks fool you: "Jake Slaughter, he a dog, bruh."
Could he become a Lion? Detroit remains on the hunt for a center a year after losing Frank Ragnow. The club already found one potential option in Juice Scruggs, and will surely be seeking a more proven player via free agency or trade. The sudden loss of Ragnow and ensuing struggles of Graham Glasgow last season served as a harsh reminder that Detroit's once-elite offensive line was built from the inside-out, and while Slaughter is careful not to say "I model my game after somebody or I'm going to be somebody ..."
"I love watching the Frank Ragnow tape from over the years," he said. "He had a unique play style, kind of similar frames, so I love watching his tape."
The Lions like big-bodied centers with light feet. Who doesn't? Not to belabor the comparison, but Ragnow was listed at 6'5, 310 and Slaughter checks in at 6'5, 303. At his combine eight years ago, Ragnow posted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.93, which ranked fourth out of 434 centers ever evaluated. Slaughter came in last week with an unofficial 9.91, seventh out of 679 centers ever evaluated.
Ragnow famously played through a fractured throat against the Packers in 2020 to protect Matthew Stafford, and through a partially-torn pec against the Cardinals in 2024 to protect Jared Goff. Slaughter, who allowed two sacks and one total quarterback hit across nearly 800 pass-blocking opportunities in his final two seasons at Florida according to PFF, was asked last week how he stops the pass rush when he's exhausted in the fourth quarter. He thought about it and said, "That’s a pride thing to me."
"I can’t be the guy who’s going to let you hit my quarterback," Slaughter said. "That’s 100 percent pride. And just trust your technique and fundamentals."
Slaughter had an informal meeting with the Lions at the combine. And now that the comparison is sufficiently belabored, you do have to wonder if they got flashbacks to Ragnow. Ben Johnson once called Ragnow the "secret weapon" to Detroit's offense for his smarts at the line of scrimmage. Ragnow once said that "one of my favorite parts of the game is being able to read defenses." He often served as Goff's eyes before the snap, especially against the sort of aggressive looks that gave the Lions trouble last season.
Slaughter was known at Florida for seeing the game more quickly than most college centers. He handled all the calls and protections for the Gators and came to genuinely enjoy the mental preparation that went into each game -- the extra film, the extra meetings -- learning from his coaches that "this is your life, this is the biggest thing in your life, this is what matters." He said that putting together the pre-snap puzzle is, indeed, "one of my favorite parts" of playing the position.
"Like, when you sit down on a Wednesday and you start breaking down the third-down exotics and 'how are we going to communicate this, how we are going to get on the same page as the backs and the quarterback,' it was a lot of fun," Slaughter said.
During a conversation with reporters ahead of the combine, NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah was asked if any centers in this year's class project as plug-and-play starters. He mentioned Slaughter as one of three guys (Sam Hecht and Trey Zuhn III being the others) who "would have a chance as a third-round pick to come in and get on the field right away." When Slaughter was asked why he believes he can start from Day 1, he again gave it some thought and replied: "Something I really value in my game is my communication."
"Center is a very cerebral position, so you gotta be able to learn, you gotta be able to communicate, you gotta be able to make adjustments on the fly," he said."
Slaughter is not a flawless center prospect. He'll be the first to tell you that he's "far from mastering" the position. While he's polished in pass protection, his run-blocking needs work. He's one of several imperfect players projected to be a Day 2 pick at the Lions' clearest position of need who would benefit from a transition year under a veteran before being thrust into the starting job. But Slaughter's stock is rising. He will surely be one of the first centers off the board.
If he adds some mass and rounds out his game, Slaughter should be a longtime starter in the NFL. And the two-year captain at Florida sounds like a player who will max out his potential, one whose football character meets the Lions' standard under Campbell and Brad Holmes. He fell for the sport when he was five years old "watching Gator games on the couch with my old man," a former player himself. He "begged and begged" his dad to let him play, and "he finally let me go." Now 23, Slaughter hasn't looked back.
"You go play your tail off for your guys because you love the game of football," he said.
And if he wasn't playing, "I think I’d be coaching," Slaughter said. "I couldn’t imagine my life without it."
There are other centers in the draft who should appeal to Detroit. Hecht from Kansas State, Zuhn from A&M (a tackle in college who projects to play on the interior in the NFL), Kentucky's Jager Burton and Duke's Brian Parker II all fit the bigger prototype the Lions have valued at the pivot. And the conversation might be moot if Detroit signs a proven commodity like Connor McGovern or Cade Mays in free agency, but don't count on Tyler Linderbaum.
The more prudent move for a cap-tight team with more of their own players to pay would require a little creativity. The Lions could trade for a veteran center entering the final year of his deal on a rebuilding club, like Hjalte Froholdt of the Cardinals or Aaron Brewer of the Dolphins, to bridge the gap to a center they take in the draft. The price of a mid-round pick would likely be worth it for a cost-controlled solution at an important position.
Slaughter had to chuckle at being compared to a college professor. Truth is, most offensive linemen look older than their peers. They are a different breed, wired for warfare in the trenches.
"We grew up quick and we grew up mean," he said. "That’s all it is."