Lions rookie draws comp to one of the most underrated players in team history

Drafting not one but two interior offensive lineman was sort interesting. Cross-training them both at center during OTAs was easy to see as shaping a succession plan for Frank Ragnow, and that succession plan has now landed front-and-center for the Detroit Lions in the wake of the four-time Pro Bowler's retirement.

The two most likely options for the Lions to replace Ragnow this season are versatile veteran Graham Glasgow and rookie Tate Ratledge. If Ratledge isn't Ragnow's immediate replacement as a rookie, after exclusively playing guard at Georgia with only some stray practice snaps at center, he's in line to be the guy starting in 2026.

Ratledge would not be the first young offensive lineman, and he won't be the last, to start his career at one position and end up at another position long-term. Ragnow did it, as did another notable interior offensive lineman in Lions' history.

Tate Ratledge draws nice comp to one of the most underrated Lions' ever

Rob Rang of FOX Sports chose one rookie from each NFL team and compared them to a star from the franchise's past at the same position. The comp for Ratledge was former Lions' center Kevin Glover.

"The Lions boast one of the NFL’s better offensive lines, but going back to the last century, their play at tackle and center has been better than at guard. Glover played 12 of his 15 NFL seasons at center and each of his three Pro Bowl nods came at the pivot, but he started 26 games over the 1986–88 seasons at guard. Ratledge is a potentially dominant blocker who, with greater durability, also has the look of a long-time pillar up front." 

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The Lions' second-round pick in 1985 (No. 34 overall), preceded by first-round pick Lomas Brown, Glover spent the first 13 of his 15 NFL seasons in Detroit. After starting out at guard, like Rang noted, he moved to center in 1989 and started every game there in eight of the following nine seasons.

He earned three straight Pro Bowl nods in the final three years of that stretch, his age 32-34 seasons, with a Second Team All-Pro selection in 1995.

Glover started 135 regular season games at center for the Lions, and 161 games overall in the tough trenches of the interior offensive line. Ragnow has passed him as the best center in modern franchise history, but his place among the most underrated players in franchise history regardless of position remains untouched.

If Ratledge has a career that ends up similar to Glover's, the Lions will be very pleased.