One Lions 2024 draft pick could be switching positions

Mike Payton discusses how Detroit Lions tackle Giovanni Manu could be moving inside to guard.

Transcript

00:00Here at the NFL League meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, there has been some discussion about

00:04a potential position switch for a player that the Lions traded up for in the 2024 NFL Draft.

00:09Let's talk about it.

00:13I'm Mike Payne from A to Z Sports Detroit. Today, we're going to talk about how the

00:16Lions could potentially be moving Giovanni Manu, who they traded up for last year,

00:21to guard instead of tackle. Now, this all came about as Dan Campbell was talking about Graham

00:28and potentially moving him from the left guard spot, where he kind of struggled during the end

00:32of the year, to the right guard spot, where he is known to have some success. In that explanation,

00:38he talked about the potential of moving Manu at guard and seeing if that would work. Now,

00:44that would be an interesting situation considering the size and the athleticism that Manu has is

00:50unbelievable. And that's the reason that half the league was so interested in drafting him last year

00:54and the Lions were the team that traded up and moved heaven and earth to make that happen.

00:59It's not out of the realm of possibility because last year, after the Lions drafted Manu, we talked

01:06with TSN broadcaster Farhan Lashi, and he talked about how the Lions had penciled him in at right

01:12guard from the start. So there's a potential that you're going to have Manu, Sewell right next to

01:17each other. You keep Mahogany over on the left side, Decker there on the left, and then you got

01:22Frank in the middle, obviously. Now, if the Lions go this route, if they do move him over to guard,

01:27what does that mean for the 2025 NFL draft? Well, that means a few things. They could either

01:32go out and draft a tackle, their eventual replacement for Decker, or they could say,

01:38hey, let's draft a guard for insurance. And they go out and they get a Gray Zabel or somebody like

01:42that who they feel confident can take over this role without maybe having to learn on the job

01:48like Manu will. We'll see what happens, but if Manu winds up taking on guard, it is going to be a

01:55trial-by-fire type situation where he's going to have to learn the nuances of playing guard as

02:00opposed to tackle. The guy has some smarts, and as we saw last year, while he was on redshirt,

02:07he was really starting to grow into the position, grow into being an NFL player, and everybody had

02:13nothing but good things to say about him. So we'll see where things go. But with Manu at guard,

02:19Sewell right next to him, that is a right side that I would not want to play against

02:23if I were a defensive lineman. We'll see what happens, and we'll see you next time.