Vital Lions rookie takes expected role on Day 1 of camp and draws lofty comp

After the surprising retirement of Frank Ragnow in early June, the Detroit Lions giving incoming draft picks Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier some work at center during rookie minicamp instantly looked like something a little beyond planning for whenever the four-time Pro Bowler might call it a career.

During his press conference to open training camp on Sunday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed where a lot his early focus will be.

"My eyes are on the o-line", Campbell said. "I wanna see what that unit's gonna do, and what's gonna come out of that. We need some guys to step up for us. It's a great opportunity. We lost Frank (Ragnow), and Kevin) Zeitler's gone. We got two or three more spots there, for guys to step up and help us."

Campbell added how once the right offensive line combination is found, then the five can start working together and "mesh." So finding that combination as early as possible in camp feels important, as long as the players involved make it viable to settle on it early.

Unsurprisingly, reporters on the ground at Allen Park said the Lions used a lot of different offensive line combinations during the first training camp practice. The absence of left tackle Taylor Decker, who's on active/PUP list after Campbell revealed he had a minor shoulder surgery, surely played some role in that. But all eyes were going to be on what the guard-center-guard grouping looked like during the first snaps of practice.

Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News revealed how that looked, with Ratledge at center for all the first team reps during 11-on-11 Sunday. Graham Glasgow was at right guard, with Christian Mahogany at left guard. Obviously a lot can change between now and Week 1, as Bianchi added, but it's clear Plan A at center is Ratledge.

Tate Ratledge draws lofty comp from offensive line guru

Ratledge played right guard exclusively in college at Georgia, with only some stray practice snaps at center last year when fellow draftee Jared Wilson missed time. He was a right tackle in high school, so it's fair to assume he's already had more practice snaps at center since becoming an NFL player than he had in total previously.

Ratledge worked with noted private offensive line coach Duke Manyweather before the draft, training at all three interior spots in preparation for his Pro Day and team workouts.

Manyweather told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press he does full physical and mental assessments of players he works with during the pre-draft process. Based on that, Manyweather said Ratledge most closely resembled Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey.

"They've got very, very similar profiles in terms of how they receive information, how they process information, their communication styles, how they like to communicate and how they like to be coached,” Manyweather said. “I told people that even before knowing really that Tate was going to make the switch to potentially playing center.”

Humphrey finished third in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, with three straight Pro Bowl nods and a First Team All-Pro selection since then. Manyweather also trains Humphrey, so he comes from an informed perspective.

Expectations for Ratledge have to be kept in-check at this early stage. That said, any level of comparison to who many would say is now clearly the best center in the NFL lands nicely as the Lions sort out replacing Ragnow.

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