With two weeks until the NFL Draft, there aren’t a lot of needs for the Detroit Lions. A team that reached the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and finished 15-2 last season simply needs to make a few tweaks to contend in 2025 and it puts Detroit in a good situation as they prepare to go on the clock with the 28th overall pick.
But like many spots on an NFL roster, the Lions have some fluid situations. One of them is the offensive line where right guard Kevin Zeitler signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency and left guard Graham Glasgow struggled last season. Lions head coach Dan Campbell hinted that Glasgow could move to right guard next season but it also impacted a reserve who could also be making a change.
Either way, the moves shouldn’t alter the Lions draft plans and gives an interesting dynamic in the weeks before the draft.
Moving Giovanni Manu Won’t Fix The Lions Guard Problem Ahead of NFL Draft
Campbell addressed reporters at last week’s annual meetings and discussed the possibility of moving Giovanni Manu to guard ahead of next season. Manu was a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft out of the University of British Columbia and spent all of his rookie season as a reserve battling Dan Skipper as a swing tackle.
But while Manu could return to that role next season, Campbell suggested that Manu could move to guard as they look to fill out their offensive line.
“Man, we’ve talked about that,” Campbell said via Lions staff writer Tim Twentyman. “Do you go back to right [with Glasgow], you know? And is it [Christian] Mahogany left? Is it somebody we drafted? You’re gonna do your best to let these guys compete and see where they’re at.
“I mean, do we try Manu at guard? That’s a thought. So we’re gonna try to let these guys compete a little bit and move them around and see what’s right and see where we’re at. It’s not going to be set in stone.”
Manu has also gained praise from general manager Brad Holmes during his end of season press conference.
“If you watched the film of Gio in OTAs and you watched the film of Gio in practice [at the end of the year], it really was night and day,” Holmes said via Twentyman. “That’s credit to Hank [Fraley] and Steve Oliver and all those guys just working with him and a credit to him because he was conscious that he improve.”
All of this sounds positive for a member of a 2024 draft class that didn’t bear much fruit in its rookie season. But it also is risky to trust a player who didn’t log a snap last year. Mahogany seems like a safer option, logging a 91.5 overall grade in 144 snaps last year and Glasgow could benefit with a return to right guard, where he posted a 74.9 grade according to Pro Football Focus.
Still, this shouldn’t stop the Lions from drafting another guard. While Mahogany will turn 25 in October, Glasgow will turn 33 in July and posted a PFF grade under 60 in two of the last three seasons. This year’s draft also has some enticing targets late in the first round including Alabama’s Tyler Booker and Georgia’s Tate Ratledge and versatile options such as Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr. and North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel.
For a team in the Lions’ position, the best course of action would be to take the best player available. While Manu has made significant progress, it shouldn’t stop Detroit if that player is a guard.