Another year of training camp, and the Detroit Lions are once again dealing with serious injuries to starters. On Monday, it was offseason addition Cade Mays, who will reportedly miss significant time with a wrist injury. Even though Dan Campbell refused to provide a return timeline, he said that Mays would be ready for the playoffs. This suggests a lengthy absence for the presumptive starting center for the Lions.
This now opens up a positional battle in Detroit. The problem is, the most obvious player to take over as the starter, Juice Scruggs, is also dealing with an injury. Campbell said that Scruggs will miss at least a few more days with a soft tissue injury, per Lions insider Jeremy Reisman.
As a result, Seth McLaughlin will likely get first-team reps at center.
Seth McLaughlin suddenly has a path to make the 53-man roster
This is an excellent opportunity for McLaughlin, who joined the Lions by signing a reserve/future contract back in January. The 24-year-old center went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft despite winning the Rimington Trophy, awarded to the best center in college football that year, in 2024. That same year, he was a consensus All-American and won a national championship with Ohio State.
The problem was that he ruptured his Achilles tendon in practice in November, cutting his season short. This clearly impacted his draft stock, and he ended up spending his rookie year on the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad.
Since we haven't seen McLaughlin since his Achilles injury, it's difficult to know where he is physically. As unfortunate as injuries to Mays and Scruggs are, they also give McLaughlin a chance to kick-start his NFL career.
Given that the Lions have their first preseason game against the Bengals on Thursday, McLaughlin will likely get the start. Depending on how he does against his former team, he could catapult up the depth chart ahead of the roster cutdown date.
This week, McLaughlin's biggest competition will be Michael Niese. The veteran offensive lineman has been in Detroit since 2023, so he has a lot more familiarity and experience with the team. He will get first-team reps at center, at least until Scruggs is back.
Campbell also said that they will get a look at Tate Ratledge at center. This would suggest a bigger shakeup on the offensive line. It would mean that Miles Frazier might get the start at right guard. This is a possibility, to be sure, but it might be too significant a change at the offensive line at this stage of the offseason.
Scruggs has the inside track to get the start at center in Week 1. However, we are still a month away from the Lions' season opener, giving McLaughlin a real shot. What the former Alabama and Ohio State standout does with that shot remains to be seen.
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