The Detroit Lions are a prime candidate for regression heading into the 2025 NFL season. Detroit had its best season in franchise history last year, winning 15 games and securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Sadly, their defense crumbled against the Commanders and the Lions exited the playoffs as quickly as they joined.
A lot has changed in Detroit since then. The Lions lost both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs this offseason. They were replaced by John Morton, who was in Detroit in 2022, and former linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard.
Detroit has also faced plenty of turnover on the roster between NFL free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Lions already got a good look at their new players during rookie minicamp, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp. Now training camp is the next big test for every Lions player on the roster, both young and old.
But which players should Lions fans be watching ahead of training camp? And which position will have the most exciting training camp battle?
Below we will explore the Lions' most intense positional battle heading into NFL training camp.
Every spot on the interior of Detroit's offense line is up for grabs
It will be no surprise to most Lions fans that the interior of the offensive line is the fiercest training camp battle.
Detroit's o-line was thrown into disarray in early June when Lions center Frank Ragnow surprisingly retired before the 2025 season. The Lions were already gearing up for a camp battle at right guard, but Ragnow's retirement significantly changed the situation.
The Lions have two starting spots open on the offensive line, in addition to a pressing question about who should replace Ragnow.
Fans may not have been aware of Ragnow's retirement ahead of time, but the organization probably had a few clues.
Detroit loaded up on interior offensive linemen in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Lions added guard Tate Ratledge in the second round and guard Miles Frazier in the fifth round. That doesn't mean the Lions plan to play either player at center. Instead, the team simply knew they needed depth at the position sooner rather than later.
There is already speculation that Ratledge could take over at center for Detroit.
Ratledge gave the center position a shot during rookie minicamp. He admitted that it is certainly an adjustment.
“You gotta say a lot more,” Ratledge said after practice during rookie minicamp. “You gotta know the safety rotation, stuff like that, know where the point’s going. At guard most of the time you’re listening to the center tell you where to go. At center, like I said, you’re telling everybody else where to go.”
Ratledge has plenty of promise heading into his rookie season, which makes converting him to center quite tempting. After all, a starting-caliber center is worth much more than a guard.
All of that said, there are risks in handing the job over to a rookie. Especially ahead of an important 2025 season.
Personally, I would prefer to see veteran Graham Glasgow win the starting job at center.
The Lions drafted Glasgow in 2016 to play center. He played center for three season before moving to right guard. He has bounced between the two positions ever since.
Most recently, Glasgow played 52 snaps at center in 2024. He also played 189 snaps at the position in 2023 and 609 snaps in 2022.
Detroit could still give Ratledge some experience at center during practice while starting him at guard. That could allow him to step into the position in 2026, if that's what the coaching staff thinks is best.
Ultimately, the Lions will likely let the players' reps speak for themselves during training camp and the preseason.
Will any surprise players play their way into the competition?
But which players are realistically involved in this training camp battle? And could some surprise candidates play their way into a starting job?
At this point in the offseason, Detroit's projected starters on the interior of the o-line are Graham Glasgow, Tate Ratledge, and Christian Mahogany. The Lions also have a number of reserve players who will be in the mix as well.
Some of those reserve players include rookie Miles Frazier, the newly-acquired Trystan Colon, and veterans like Kayode Awosika, Netane Muti, Michael Niese, and Kingsley Eguakun.
There are some promising dark horse candidates in that list of players.
Frazier, Colon, and Awosika are intriguing candidates to potentially win a starting job in training camp. At the very least, they could challenge Glasgow, Ratledge, and Mahogany for snaps throughout the regular season.
As mentioned above, Frazier is a fifth-round rookie. His scouting report reminds me a lot of Mahogany, another late-round draft pick who exceeded expectations during his rookie season. I'm not calling them the same player, but Frazier does seem to have everything it takes to win a starting job in the NFL.
Awosika joined the Lions in 2022 and has been a solid reserve player for the past three seasons. He has taken snaps at both guard spots and contributed at least 100 snaps per season over the past three years. His knowledge of Detroit's scheme, which will be tweaked by new OC John Morton, could be helpful in a training camp battle.
Finally there's the wildcard in Colon.
Detroit signed Colon shortly after Ragnow's retirement, at the very least backfilling a body ahead of training camp. Colon has both center and guard versatility, similar to Glasgow, which gives him a solid chance to make the final roster as a backup.
Lions fans should keep an eye on these players during the preseason and monitor their snap counts. It could be revealing of where they stand with the team ahead of roster cutdown in September.
