Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and the rest of the Lions offensive stars know it takes the five men up front for the offense to move each week. Which five? That will be decided in camp and head coach Dan Campbell is very excited to watch the battles play out.
”Our O-line – we’ve got to sort this O-line out, it’s an open competition right now and that’s going to be important this camp is we’ve gotto find some guys that we know we can count on, they’re going to win the job, they’re going to be guys we can rely on. I know (Lions Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line) Hank (Fraley) will do a good job getting them ready,” Campbell said.
Advertisement
“But it’s really about putting our guys in position to win their one-on-one matchups because we’ve got some guys that can do that. And so, what is the matchup of the day, what’s the matchup of the week and let’s let those guys go win and let Goff get us in the right play and facilitate it. I feel real good about it.”
Two spots are locked in, as they have been for a few years now. It’s Taylor Decker at left tackle and Penei Sewell on the right. As far as inside goes, that’s where camp and preseason will decide who starts Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
Graham Glasgow and Christian Mahogany look to have the early inside track at the two guard spots and rookie Tate Ratledge has been working at center. Trystan Colon can also step in and start if the team feels Ratledge needs more time.
Having the tutelage of Hank Fraley is a huge advantage for the Lions. Whoever ends up in the starting five will have earned it but will also know they have a huge job to do if the Lions are to make another deep playoff run.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Dan Campbell excited to see the Lions offensive line camp battles