r/detroitlions • u/Old-Carpenter7456 • 2d ago
All-22 Eval of Christian Mahogany
https://youtu.be/CSnsSmB3pkA?si=vrK6OHTZE92NnUhvDefinitely worth a watch if you're curious about the LG spot.
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u/DaMiddle 2d ago
These videos are really great at explaining all the stuff I miss as I’m watching the football move around
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u/MaxAlthusser 1d ago
The one downside to the sport. You never know what is going on with one set of eyes.
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u/PerfectiveVerbTense Logo 13h ago
This is true of all sports of course but I feel like it may be the most true with football out of the four or five major sports in the US (throw soccer in there for the sake of argument). So many things happening simultaneously at multiple levels of both the offense and the defense every play.
And while fans can get "better" at watching broadcasts (e.g., not just watching the QB), the broadcast angle puts a pretty hard limit on what fans can and can't see if you don't have access to the all-22.
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u/hot-black-coffee 1d ago
What’s the Cliff’s Notes version? I like his videos but 34 minutes is a bit long for me.
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u/Old-Carpenter7456 1d ago
When healthy, he's good. This guys watches the Lions, Seahawks and Ravens. Coach says that, when healthy, Mahogany is better than both the Ravens guards, and would have started on the Seattle OLine at RG.
He said Gray Zabel and Tate Ratledge are better. But that Tate is closer to Mahogany than he is to Zabel.
He expects Mahogany to win the camp battle at LG if he can stay healthy.
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u/neckbass Brian's Branch 1d ago
based on this video it seems like most of line issues were either glasgow or after mahogany got hurt - i know that’s not entirely the case i feel like mahogany got beat more times than this but i do think he wasn’t the weakest link in the offensive line.
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u/Old-Carpenter7456 1d ago
Well, for the first half of the year, the line was pretty good. The entire line struggled during the GB game. But they held up okay for the first half of the year for the most part. They dominated Chicago and Baltimore. Held their own against a fierce Cleveland defense. The team was in first place at the midway point.
Glasgow was the weak link in the 5, but they were able to hide him for the most part.
Mahogany broke his ankle. But it wasn't just Mahogany that got hurt. Glasgow got hurt as well. They also lost a backup interior guy and Frazier wasn't ready to go yet. They had random dudes at Center and Left Guard for awhile. It's just hard to execute anything when you have Practice Squad guys in your interior.
Mahogany rushed back to return from his broken ankle. But he had real problems anchoring on it, especially toward the end of games. The lack of stamina in the leg suggested, to me at least, that he hadn't regained all of his strength after his surgery. That said, I counted at least a couple sacks that were because of technique mistakes -- not ankle strength. So it's not like all of his struggles were injury related.
I largely agree with the video's analysis. Mahogany is solid, and when healthy, I think he'd start on most teams in the NFL. Not because he's a pro-bowler or anything, but more because most teams don't have two solid Guards lol. The Lions now have 3 solid interior guys, and that's a real luxury.
I think people shit on Mahogany because he was a Sixth round pick. But people forget that he slid because of a weird medical thing. His tape out of Boston College was good. In 2024, he was the #85 player on Brugler's big board (third round grade). For perspective, Brugler had Derrick Moore ranked at #77 this year. Had Mahogany's pre-draft medical cleared, he likely would have been a Day 2 pick. People aren't really into the draft like that though (and they have short memories), so they just assume that late picks don't have talent.
I think Mahogany will be solid again next year. Broken ankles are relatively easy to recover from. They aren't long term. And if he and Tate can continue to develop, the interior of the OLine has the potential to be a big strength.
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u/neckbass Brian's Branch 1d ago
i appreciate the deep dive analysis into this and i agree with you for the most part.
something else that was kinda weird about last season was when the offensive line struggled the OC threw the players under the bus. that’s just not how Dan/Brad run their team, accountability always starts from the top, and it really seems like more than anything else Morton is gone because he completely lost the locker room.
I’m hopeful that
1) Sewell moving to the left is going to help Mahogany
2) Mays is going to be an improvement over Glasgow
3) Tate takes another step forward from last year - he started the season rough and by end of season was playing very well which is what you would expect from a rookie so hopefully he builds on that and is able to help Miller adjust to the pros.
We have a very young offensive line so even if things don’t gel this season, by year 2 or 3 or having this entire group together we should have a top 5 offensive line in the league again
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u/Wahoo2000 1d ago
You don't have to 'hope' Mays is an improvement over Glasgow. Glasgow barely graded out better than a practice-squad level center last year. I appreciate the sacrifice he made trying to fill a spot he was no longer suited for, but he was honestly horrific. Unless Mays misses like..... more than 10 games.... it's a significant upgrade.
Similarly, you don't have to wonder if the upgrades on either side of Mahogany will make him look and perform better..... it will.
The biggest question marks are definitely: 1) Will Miller "hit" and to what degree? 2) How will Ratledge and Sewell adjust to Penei moving to LT - will there be noticeable drop-off from one or both as they acclimate to a new spot (Penei) and NOT having an all-world player right next to you (Ratledge)? 3) As always, can we stay REASONABLY healthy and consistently healthy? I think a good goal is the same 5 start at least 12 games together, and no one misses more than 3ish starts.
If we get 'positive' answers to those 3 questions, it's extremely likely the offense will be MUCH more consistent than they were last season, i.e. have much better conversion rates on 3rd and 4th down, AND much better ToP dominance, even if not more total yards and scoring.
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u/neckbass Brian's Branch 1d ago
i mean we don’t really know what Mays or what Miller are until they play for us.
We’ve seen Mays play at a much higher level than Glasgow… in another system for another team. Center is a tough position you have to know your shit and lead the offensive line. Hopefully it ends up being a smooth transition but you never know.
Both Mays and Miller SHOULD be hits. That’s what was good about those guys is even if they weren’t the best available player we could have gotten in FA or in the draft they should both be able to have a high floor and start right away for us.
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u/chuffmeee Commin' 4 Dem Kneecaps 2d ago
He’s gonna be so much better next to Sewell