- 6/3/2025
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00:00but yesterday DRS some very significant and impactful news also hit the NFL wire in Detroit
00:07Frank Ragnall the pro ball and all pro center of the Detroit Lions a staple of this Lions team as
00:14they started to turn things around in the Motor City and especially up front announces his
00:21retirement at the age of only 29 anytime a player still at the peak of their abilities
00:27retires before the age of 30 you know pain hurt and injuries are a component Ragnall saying as much
00:36in his statement for the reasons around his retirement from football you really feel for
00:41Frank Ragnall and it's significant news for Detroit in an offseason of change Ragnall was a first round
00:49pick back in 2018 by the Lions he spent the entirety of his seven-year career in Detroit he was an all
00:56pro selection second team all pro each of the past two seasons in which of course the Lions won a
01:02division in each of the two for the first time in three decades won a playoff game in 2023 for the
01:09first time in 32 years reached the NFC championship game in 2023 for the first time in more than 30
01:16years as well Frank Ragnall a critical component of the turnaround in Detroit DRS a big blow for him
01:24you feel for him and hope he has better health now that his football days are done and a big blow for
01:31the Lions entering 2025 as well it is it is a big blow for the Lions here because again you're talking
01:37about going to training camp in less than a month here and without maybe your best offensive well I
01:41mean Panay Sewell they have a great offensive line but talking about that key cog you were talking about
01:45the guy that is the quarterback of the offensive line that makes all of the adjustments here and that
01:49ground game really went because of Ragnall how dominant he was up front you might say oh well
01:54if you're a mid-level guy a veteran at the end of it's no big deal like no look at those statistics
01:58here seven seasons of four-time pro bowler and a three-time all pro which means he's one of the
02:03best at his position in the entire sport here heading into training camp not a good sign you lose Ben
02:08Johnson your offensive coordinator now use the quarterback of your offensive line they'll be able
02:12to recover they're talented they'll make some moves but you're not going to replace that guy
02:17that is extremely hard to do here 29 years old at the top of his game just can't get it done anymore
02:22due to injuries that's football man that's a hard life and maybe you're thinking DRS all right he's
02:28retiring at 29 after only seven years how banged up was he the past few seasons did he only play like
02:3410 total games no Frank Ragnall was out there battling through injuries at least 15 regular season games
02:42played for Detroit each of the previous three seasons in which he made the pro bowl in all three
02:48and of course a key cog in the center of that offensive line for the Lions in their last two
02:54playoff runs in DRS when you think about how Detroit reworked this franchise to have a completely
03:01different outlook and standard of success than we have largely known in the Motor City for the last 30
03:07years you think of Jared Goff coming over and playing great football you think of Ben Johnson
03:12the offensive mastermind and Aaron Glenn and we'll talk about their departures in just a matter of
03:17moments the drafting of Jameer Gibbs to pair with David Montgomery Jamison Williams Amon Ross St.
03:23Brown Sam Laporta but really to me an emphasis for both Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson offensively
03:30was building up that O-line and the Eagles are probably the best and if they're the best Detroit
03:35might be number two and not by all that far off they had had a consistent O-line each of the past
03:43few seasons with some stalwarts of this franchise of course Frank Ragnall in the middle Taylor Decker
03:49on that left side and you have a guy in Graham Glasgow who was the right guard who's probably going to
03:54have to shift into that center spot more than likely for Detroit to try to keep that standard but when you
04:00do that you also lose Kevin Zeitler who was there last season in Detroit a free agent deal with
04:06Tennessee the veteran who has been a part of the NFL for plenty of years Donnie a lot to discuss
04:13around Detroit will do so starting in hour two but the Lions have a lot of holes to fill this offseason
04:20yeah they do and also a lot of questions that you can just keep this machine moving without the engine
04:25which was your offensive coordinator being the maestro and pulling the strings on all those
04:28sensational plays that you watch and also that dominant ground game starts with the center making
04:33adjustments up front and being an absolute road grader because those great centers like hey he's
04:37a great pass blocking center Frank Ragnall was an unbelievable run blocking center and that's going
04:42to hurt them moving forward you'll find out it's a good football team it's a tough schedule we get that
04:46but that's never good where you didn't have time to acclimate and say you know what maybe our draft
04:51would have been different maybe our offseason would have been different if we had known this earlier
04:54but as a true professional it's like you know what I'm gonna give it every chance and I'm just not
04:57gonna he could have just sat out and said you know what it's about money give me more money I'll come
05:00back for one more year no he's like I'm done like I can't go out there anymore and he had to retire
05:05you saw that schedule board for the Lions in 2025 we'll dive even deeper when hour two starts next
05:12welcome to hour number two live right here on this Tuesday morning on the early line on SportsGrid
05:19he is Donnie Wright's side I am Ben Stevens a lot to get to here in hour number two we've got
05:25headlines still in the National Football League we've got headlines across the sports landscape and for
05:30the first time our producer extraordinaire and tennis aficionado Joe Frizzo will set the stage
05:37with his notes that we will read for the French Open at Roland Garros of course a grand slam in the world
05:46of tennis and on that clay over in France we'll break that down and then later in this second hour
05:53the NHL's Pete Jensen is here on the day before the day that begins the Stanley Cup final tomorrow night
06:00in Edmonton it's a rematch between the Oilers and the Panthers but this time around where are the
06:06advantages where are the differences Pete will tell us and hopefully highlight how Donnie's Canadian team
06:13can bring Lord Stanley's Cup back to the great white north and by the way make me commissioner of
06:18sports we're not waiting a week to get our championship games underway it's not the NFL where
06:23you're building up a lot of like because in the NFL Ben right you have the week off like to build the
06:26animosity towards the two teams and a lot of you know bulletin board material and everybody gets to
06:32get to that destination city we're not doing that in the NBA in the NHL you should have a final game
06:36Sunday all right great Tuesday finals let's go one day off here get to your new city and let's start to
06:41play here because you lose momentum in these other sports you don't get nobody's gaining momentum here
06:46for the NBA finals on Thursday you're losing it I'm not entirely sure why the date of the NBA finals or
06:54that of the Stanley Cup final are specifically set we know that though going into every NBA season
07:01every NHL season as well does not matter the length of the previous series in the conference finals round
07:08I'm sure it's beneficial beneficial for TV networks for those advertising partners I get all of that
07:15but it feels like it should be a flexible thing that's just my two cents DRS we continue with some NFL
07:21news and the big news yesterday for the Lions star center Frank Ragnow announces his retirement
07:27after only seven years is it is an off season of change for Detroit Ben Johnson the stellar OC now the
07:35head coach of the Chicago Bears Aaron Glenn the defensive coordinator that led the turnaround on
07:40that side of the ball for the Lions the new head coach of the New York Jets the guys to fill the space
07:45John Morton on the offensive side Kelvin Shepard who was the linebackers coach under Aaron Glenn takes the
07:52range now as the play caller on the defensive side of the football Dan Campbell still remains a lot of
07:59the star talent especially in those skill positions are there and we would expect the defense that was
08:05really banged up in the tail end of the season maybe holding the Lions back to at least be healthier in
08:112025 from the very start but everybody in the NFC North has a very difficult schedule this year that of course
08:20is the case for Detroit a Super Bowl price that is now at 10 to 1 with some reshuffling but you see
08:26it there at plus 900 regardless it's the fifth best number for all teams in the NFL second best price of
08:34any squad hailing from the NFC the win total for the Lions in double digits at 10 and a half in the under
08:40has a slight bit of juice Donnie again a lot of the cast and crew that actually will play the game
08:47remains the same for Detroit of course they've got to fill some needs now in the interior of that O-line
08:53but with changes to the coaching staff and some significant changes up front offensively how do
08:59you feel about the Lions entering 2025 I feel solid because they're a good football team but also if you
09:06just put them in the same realm of the Philadelphia Eagles when they went to a Super Bowl which the
09:10Detroit Lions did not they still kept their head coach but they lost both of their coordinators and
09:14they opened up that season 10 and 1 and it absolutely collapsed on the back stretch because
09:18the defense couldn't stop anybody because you didn't have a true signal caller back there and
09:22maybe a guy that was a little bit too early to get that OC job didn't work out in your favor now I'm not
09:27saying that's going to happen to the Detroit Lions but you had a defensive coach that was like all right
09:31our statistics aren't great because everybody got injured but they'll listen to me and I'll hold down
09:36the forward and I'll call the right plays let you see if we can execute and then on the offensive side
09:40you might have the best signal caller in the entire NFL who's now left that team those are hard shoes to
09:46fill and then gives more opportunity here for Dan Campbell to say well I got to watch the offense and the
09:51defense now instead of just managing my football team that's going to make a difference and also we talked
09:55about the shake up there a bit on the offensive line the Philadelphia Eagles lost Jason Kelsey but then had
10:00Cam Juergensy for a couple years already built into as a solid offensive lineman and he was spectacular last year can you get
10:06that same sort of effort there out of the new center as opposed to having Frank Ragnow who's very good
10:11over the past couple years it's never good to enter into a season Ben where you have question marks and
10:17it seems like the question marks are building for the Detroit Lions we hope they can answer them sooner
10:22than later yeah DRS the question marks are building and I think if you were to tell any casual football fan
10:28hey you still have your head coach your quarterback your star wide receivers your star running backs your
10:35star tight end your all-world edge rusher who has been very promising in his three years in the NFL
10:40now returns from a significant knee injury and leg injury you've got all your guys back defensively
10:46you'd be like all right let's go back to where we expect to be a 15 win team a season ago an NFC championship
10:53game team the season prior but when you lose key players along the interior of the O-line that's
11:00important here how here's how Detroit probably addresses that Graham Glasgow their right guard
11:06probably makes his way more to the center you drafted Tate Ratledge out of Georgia an interior
11:12O-lineman who can really kind of be wherever you need your second round pick you still have Taylor
11:17Decker your blind side blocker and Panay Sewell one of the best on the other side as your right
11:23tackle but you've got a lot of moving parts now for Detroit I think the Lions in terms of Super Bowl
11:28and NFC title odds present a lot of value if the coordinator drop-off is not overly steep but I'm
11:36going to wait to bet that DRS until we really get going in 2025 because I think I could miss the best
11:43of the number but if the Lions with that incredibly difficult slate that you see there look at the
11:48first three games for Detroit get off to a what what who's the logo for game four what is that
11:56that's the that's the Browns right is it it looks like a wolf or something like that from this angle
12:02it's crazy dog the dog yeah I would have never guessed like who are they playing week four I would
12:07never have been able to guess that but I think DRS like if they get off to a really good start there
12:12that number is going to drop rapidly if they do not though I think you'll still have some value
12:18and you'll get a picture at least of what the Lions are looking like because of how difficult the
12:23schedule is from the very start for Detroit in 2025 yeah and also like again you're taking a look at
12:28like the NFC East the NFC North like just tough schedules right out of the gate like you again you
12:32don't want to lay up necessarily to start your season but you're taking on the Packers on the road
12:37that's a tough game a good football team they're gonna have home field advantage game number two
12:41you have Ben Johnson who knows all about your offense and your schemes you can relay that to
12:46the defense and put in some new wrinkles with a talented Bears team then you go on the road to
12:50take on Baltimore and let me tell you something even though it's still early in the season you open
12:55up let's just say one and two there those questions are oh look at that can't overcome the offensive
13:00coordinator the defensive coordinator maybe Dan Campbell's not that good here you need a good
13:05start for the Lions here just to keep the good vibes as we said two years ago the Philadelphia Eagles
13:09had a great start with new coordinators and still flamed out at the end so long season but you'd
13:15like to have a good start here to keep those good vibes in the room yes you certainly certainly would
13:20in losing coordinators especially those of Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn obviously very sought after and
13:26highly regarded that immediately became head coaches you could think of the Eagles back in 2022 when
13:32they reached a Super Bowl loss both of their guys Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon who became head
13:37coaches in the drop-off for Philadelphia when it mattered most late in the season and of course
13:43in that playoff game the Lions have the third most difficult schedule in the National Football League
13:48based on projected win totals and all the rest advantages and such entering 2025 more NFL news
13:55when we return on TEL live right here on this Tuesday on the early line on Sports Grid we continue going
14:03around the National Football League for the latest news and notes that you need in DRS yesterday
14:09on digs made his return and was in attendance in Foxborough for voluntary OTAs now who among us
14:19has not parted it up a little bit on a weekend and shown up a little bit late for work and been
14:26slightly distracted Stefan digs is back he is in attendance at voluntary OTAs now can we just go
14:33back to the tweet graphic we had right there the helmet looks like it's about to eat the tweet
14:39like that's a large Patriots helmet right there on your screen I love that with an indication of what
14:46exactly Steph digs is returning to yeah you know what it's never a good thing to be an outside
14:52distraction to a new football team and that's what you're getting here I don't know if anybody's going
14:57to ask him direct that by the way I'm sure he didn't meet the media because only like select players
15:01like maybe a quarterback defensive coordinator offensive coordinator like what are the questions
15:04that the media wants to ask Stefan digs I'm pretty sure it's not hey how's your knee uh welcome back
15:10it's like what were you handing out on that boat there like we can't we just get it that's all I want to
15:15it was like an explanation like does he just say no comment or does he go like look like this stuff
15:19is so diabolical like they can't even test for it because they don't know what it is yet or just like
15:23how do you even handle that like how do you tell your employer it's like what were you doing on that
15:28boat what did you have in your hand like what's like it was pop rocks like like what do you even
15:32explain it as at that point yeah I don't know if the first question would be what is to see
15:38and how exactly is it ingested I'm not entirely sure DRS how that would go my guess is knowing
15:47how New England operates even in the post Bill Belichick era because Rabel is his disciple
15:53that Stefan digs will not be made available to the media at any point throughout voluntary OTAs maybe
16:00the next time we hear from digs is either through himself individually or at a certain point later
16:07this summer Donnie do you think it would be wise at all for New England to cut him like do you think
16:13Stefan digs will play a game for the Patriots in 2025 I do I I think they I'm not saying they would
16:20have done it already that doesn't make sense but you might say all right if your knee isn't all the
16:25way back maybe we make a different decision because of off the field but as long as not intro the one
16:29thing we do know is if you have talent and you can help a football team and you're not behind bars
16:34they will let you play in the NFL it's just the way it is so if you had like I mean put like change
16:40this up and say all right the best quarter let's just say Patrick Mahomes was in the same situation
16:44Andy Reid would be like hey you know what we don't like that but they're gonna cut him like no like
16:50look how long it took to cut Justin Tucker down there for the Baltimore Ravens because like hey
16:54can he still kick field goals because it's worth the PR hit that we're gonna take
16:58and that of course with Justin Tucker far more serious allegations than anything happening
17:03with Stefan digs at this moment to Donnie's point it might not be the best look and again we're still
17:10not really sure what that unidentified pink substance is but he's not in any legal trouble at this moment
17:18more NFL news yesterday really hearing from Deion Sanders for the first time following the 2025 NFL
17:25draft that of course saw his former quarterback and son Shador Sanders slide all the way into the
17:32fifth round Deion Sanders saying he was quote hurt by reports that said his son Shador Sanders was
17:38unprepared during pre-draft meetings with NFL organizations but he also isn't buying the validity
17:44of them either of course it is not overly shocking that Deion is backing his son in Shador Sanders we played
17:53a segment or a game last week DRS calling news or no I would probably say that that is no not exactly
18:01the most riveting news around the NFL but let's understand what he's saying here it's unfair they
18:07don't like me they're holding against my son once again that's not the way the NFL works if a team thinks
18:13you can help them on the field you will be drafted accordingly so regardless of what Deion says here
18:18you had a quarterback that dropped to the fifth round and multiple teams passed and here's what I
18:22love about it too is here like the Mike Tomlins of the world and also um Denver's head coach Sean
18:29Payton right now unbelievable can't believe that happened and I say you know what if I was in the
18:33room hey if this was so unbelievable and the talent was so there Pittsburgh you needed a quarterback
18:38you didn't care if you drafted him in the first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh or eighth round
18:42if there even was one in the NFL so who are you to say this is a travesty because your organization
18:47which includes you thought the same exact thing everybody else did hey he might be a good player
18:52does he have enough baggage and is his tape and film good enough and the answer is a resounding no
18:57it only takes one team to think he's a great player and will be a starting quarterback Tim Tebow who many
19:01teams like this guy can't play where did he get drafted round number one because it takes one team
19:07that just need to be no collusion out here teams think he's not worth the headache and the talent isn't
19:12there that's why he got drafted in the fifth round not because Deion's like they held it against me and
19:16he was unprepared no the reasons are you pop the game tape on the go he's just not as good as we
19:21think the rest of the people think he is and the NFL was sitting in the same way as us plus 430 for
19:27Shanoor Sanders to be that week one starting quarterback for Cleveland in that jumbled quarterback
19:32room Sanders has the second longest price Joe Flacco the veteran at 40 years old is the favorite at plus
19:39116 Kenny Pickett the guy acquired via trade with Philadelphia earlier in the offseason second best price
19:46at two to one now I do not believe that Shanoor Sanders in those pre-draft beatings it was the
19:52reason that he slid all the way into the fifth round any of the reports of how nonchalant he took
19:58them and when he was pressed to kind of display that football acumen he failed in doing so but I do
20:04think the way that the Sanders camp constructed his pre-draft schedule and that was the RS going to the
20:12combine but not taking measurements not working out not throwing but only interviewing probably not a
20:19great work look not going to the senior bowl but going to the east west shrine bowl and not working
20:24out probably not a great look going to big 12 pro day and not working out probably not a good look to
20:31only have a highly orchestrated and almost party-like event at Boulder for CU's pro day
20:39probably not a great look so you went into the scouting departments of NFL organizations
20:45and did not give them an opportunity to truly get the evaluation pieces they needed during that draft
20:52cycle and I understand show the tape look at the game tape but clearly they had issue with game tape
20:59during his time at Colorado Colorado and he didn't really work out to give an opportunity to kind of
21:05change that assessment it wasn't about the meetings or the interviews I think the pre-draft process
21:11though did play a part into why Shador Sanders slid in the NFL draft
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