A former NFL center, Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley knows as well as anyone that "the quickest way to the quarterback is through the A-gap." The Lions didn't have to worry about that the past few years with proven guards on either side of All-Pro Frank Ragnow. Now they have essentially three new starters up front, with Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge stepping in at guard and Graham Glasgow shifting to center.
Fraley still isn't stressing.
"I feel good," he said Tuesday ahead of Sunday's season-opener in Green Bay. "We get challenged every week. (Kelvin Sheppard) did a good job in training camp, OTA's, we get challenged every day with those guys, with their pressures, with their guys up front. So as long as we stay technically sound and do our job fundamentally sound, we'll be fine. The rules are the rules."
A strong interior is essential to any sturdy offensive line, starting at center. Fraley will be the first to tell you, "It's always protect inside-out." While Mahogany and Ratledge have two combined starts in the NFL to 304 on the part of Ragnow and departed guard Kevin Zeitler, Glasgow brings plenty of experience of his own, including 41 career starts at center. That's reassuring for Fraley and the Lions, and for Jared Goff.
"Graham’s been a natural center in this league, very smart player, dependable player," said Fraley. "Having him in the room over the years, along with Frank, it's like having two coaches on the field."
Glasgow isn't the same force that Ragnow was, but he has similar smarts. The two of them shared a habit of not only taking meticulous notes in meetings, but keeping all of their notebooks from years prior, stacked one on top of the other "like a library for them," said Fraley. Glasgow has already dug into his notes on the Packers from last season, said Fraley, asking, "Oh, well we did this last year, are we doing this again?. And they’re so detailed out."
That sort of preparation and understanding of the defense "settles the whole offense down," Fraley said.
"You see it with the quarterbacks. They know if somebody in front of them can control it, take charge, that’s what you want. So Goff and him are always on the same page. ... He just calms everybody down, and just, go with your rules. It’s the first game of the season. There’s gonna be something maybe new that we’re not prepared for, and just, don’t chase it. As long as we’re all on that same page, we can make it right. But he’s a calming presence for everybody."
In the case of the Packers, that something new is one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. Micah Parsons will line up all over the defensive front. He'll attack from either edge, from a standup position on the interior and even blitz through the A gap. "He can cause havoc," said Fraley. It won't fall solely on Penei Sewell to stop him -- and Sewell had one of the leakier games of his career in pass protection the last time he and Parsons clashed (Week 17, 2023).
"He’s a challenge because he can line up over Penei, (Taylor) Decker, Graham, three technique, we’ll see how they want to use him. It’s really about how quickly he picks up their system and what they want to do," said Fraley. "But at the end of the day, we’ve faced him a lot. He has caused some issues for us, and we’ve gotten the best of him, too, so it’s a battle over there. It’s exciting. He got there, I saw the trade, I just told our guys, ‘Hey, we were gonna block him later in the year (against the Cowboys), now we get him twice a year."
With Parsons demanding so much attention, the rest of the Packers' pass rush can pose even more problems between fellow edge Rashan Gary, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and linebackers Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper and Lukas Van Ness, all of them first- or second-round draft picks.
For Fraley and the Lions, the task is simple: Know your assignment and do your job. For the young bucks in the middle, that means following Glasgow's lead.
"I always remind these guys … Graham is our center. He's never chased ghosts and stuff like that. Just stay with it. We can block everything, because all our plays, all our protections, all our run games, they have rules. They can line up in anything they want to do, something they've never shown last year or never shown at all, but rules take place and just trust what they've been doing along those lines," said Fraley.
A new-look offensive line has a lot to prove in the weeks and months ahead. The old one was well established as one of the best in the NFL. This one won't be as dominant out of the gate, but it has the talent to possibly get there by the end of the year. Already, said Dan Campbell, "they’ve come a long way" since the start of training camp. "You see a ton of growth with those five."
"There’s that communication that takes place that is big with those guys. So I feel really good about it," Campbell said. "I also know we’re not done, they’re not done, and that’s encouraging. I say that in a good way, like, there’s so much growth left to take place with not only (Mahogany and Ratledge) but collectively as a unit. That’s pretty exciting."
They couldn't ask for a bigger test in Week 1.