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Ahead of the 12th day of training camp, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell was asked if Christian Mahogany was close to locking up the starting left guard position.
"This is still an ongoing battle. I think we'll get Juice (Scruggs) back today to where he can work a little bit and hopefully each day he gets more and more reps... Get him back and kind of see where that is. (Ben) Bartch is back. He'll be getting more and more reps. Let Mahogany and Bartch, you know, go at it over there at the left guard. And then obviously, we're evaluating Juice too at center with Seth (McLaughlin) or is it (Tate) Ratledge.
"We've got to find the five best, and so this is an ongoing battle. Mahogany, I thought he was a physical force, and when he does it right, it's pretty and it's powerful, it's explosive. In the pass game, he's got to anchor. And then sometimes he just gets a little out of sorts. So, it's just the consistency of it," Campbell said.
Mahogany started 11 games last season at left guard, but he also missed six games with a broken left fibula. The 6-foot-3, 330-pound lineman would return for Weeks 16-18, but he allowed 10 pressures in those three weeks, including six in a loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After a disappointing 9-8 finish in 2025, the Lions made upgrading its offensive line and the depth of the unit a primary offseason focus.
Detroit acquired Juice Scruggs as part of the David Montgomery trade. Scruggs, a second-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2023, has appeared in 37 career games, starting 20.
The Lions also signed Ben Bartch in free agency after parts of three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. Bartch began his career as a fourth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Across six NFL seasons thus far, Bartch has played in 55 games and made 24 starts.
After a day in between to examine the film from it, Campbell shared his impressions of how his offensive line performed in its preseason opener at the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Well, when we did it right up front, when we were all together doing it right, using the fundamentals, man, it was pretty and we were effective. I thought a number of things in the run game were really good. Got (Jacob) Saylors going, (Raheem) Blackshear had some runs and that was good to see. Really, the protection was pretty good. I thought the protection overall was pretty good.
"So, there again, some of the fundamental stuff, just cleaning some of those guys up, but, like I said, I thought Larry (Borom) handled his business over there at left tackle, I thought Blake Miller did a good job at right tackle. Mahogany was a force. It's just about cleaning up some of the fundamentals, but it was good to see," Campbell said.
Detroit registered 274 yards of offense (145 passing yards, 129 rushing yards) and 16 first downs in its 16-14 loss at Cincinnati.
Jacob Saylors led the way with 55 rushing yards on eight carries and Raheem Blackshear added 33 rushing yards on five totes.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Josh on X, @JoshOnLions
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions' left guard competition still 'ongoing'
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"This is still an ongoing battle. I think we'll get Juice (Scruggs) back today to where he can work a little bit and hopefully each day he gets more and more reps... Get him back and kind of see where that is. (Ben) Bartch is back. He'll be getting more and more reps. Let Mahogany and Bartch, you know, go at it over there at the left guard. And then obviously, we're evaluating Juice too at center with Seth (McLaughlin) or is it (Tate) Ratledge.
"We've got to find the five best, and so this is an ongoing battle. Mahogany, I thought he was a physical force, and when he does it right, it's pretty and it's powerful, it's explosive. In the pass game, he's got to anchor. And then sometimes he just gets a little out of sorts. So, it's just the consistency of it," Campbell said.
Mahogany started 11 games last season at left guard, but he also missed six games with a broken left fibula. The 6-foot-3, 330-pound lineman would return for Weeks 16-18, but he allowed 10 pressures in those three weeks, including six in a loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After a disappointing 9-8 finish in 2025, the Lions made upgrading its offensive line and the depth of the unit a primary offseason focus.
Detroit acquired Juice Scruggs as part of the David Montgomery trade. Scruggs, a second-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2023, has appeared in 37 career games, starting 20.
The Lions also signed Ben Bartch in free agency after parts of three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. Bartch began his career as a fourth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Across six NFL seasons thus far, Bartch has played in 55 games and made 24 starts.
After a day in between to examine the film from it, Campbell shared his impressions of how his offensive line performed in its preseason opener at the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Well, when we did it right up front, when we were all together doing it right, using the fundamentals, man, it was pretty and we were effective. I thought a number of things in the run game were really good. Got (Jacob) Saylors going, (Raheem) Blackshear had some runs and that was good to see. Really, the protection was pretty good. I thought the protection overall was pretty good.
"So, there again, some of the fundamental stuff, just cleaning some of those guys up, but, like I said, I thought Larry (Borom) handled his business over there at left tackle, I thought Blake Miller did a good job at right tackle. Mahogany was a force. It's just about cleaning up some of the fundamentals, but it was good to see," Campbell said.
Detroit registered 274 yards of offense (145 passing yards, 129 rushing yards) and 16 first downs in its 16-14 loss at Cincinnati.
Jacob Saylors led the way with 55 rushing yards on eight carries and Raheem Blackshear added 33 rushing yards on five totes.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Josh on X, @JoshOnLions
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions' left guard competition still 'ongoing'
Continue reading...
