The Detroit Lions season hinges on how they react to Frank Ragnow's retirement

Kyle Crabbs recaps Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow's surprising retirement and analyzes how the team could respond going forward!

Transcript

00:00The Detroit Lions have had a challenging offseason and don't look now, but things just got a little

00:07bit tougher. I'm Kyle Krabs with A to Z Sports and Detroit has paid the price of success this

00:17offseason after seeing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson leave to take the head coaching job in

00:22Chicago and Aaron Glenn leave to take the head coaching job in New York with the Jets. That plus

00:28some lingering injuries into 2025 like defensive tackle Ali McNeil and star pass rusher Aiden

00:35Hutchinson have left Detroit not quite living their best life and football is a game of attrition

00:42and it was indeed Dan Campbell that on Hard Knocks once said we want to be the team that drags you

00:48out into the deep waters. Well the football gods have recently drugged Detroit out into deep waters

00:54and the Lions were dealt another hand of adversity yesterday when Frank Ragnell announced on social

01:00media his retirement from the game of football. Ragnell is one of the league's best centers and

01:07was considered to be one of the cornerstone players of the Detroit offensive line. That Detroit brand of

01:13football is dictated by and won in the trenches up front and the Lions said goodbye to Kevin Zeitler

01:20this offseason and now also say goodbye to star center Frank Ragnell which leaves the team's recent

01:28draft picks in the spotlight. If the Lions are going to successfully pick up the pieces not only is day

01:35three second year player Christian Mahogany going to need to materialize as a viable starter but

01:41potentially second round draft choice this year Tate Rattledge is going to have to step into the center

01:46role after playing guard at Georgia. The Lions have been very complimentary of Rattledge's versatility

01:53to this point in time and they were already cross training Rattledge at center before Ragnell formalized

01:59his retirement which makes you wonder what they might have known. But Detroit's entire brand of offensive

02:05football has been fueled by the versatility of the group up front to be able to spend time under

02:11retention and pass protection or alternatively blow opposing defenders off the line of scrimmage in the run game.

02:18With the interruptions on the inside how they meet this challenge will be one of the key defining variables

02:26in how the Lions follow up a 15 and 2 season in 2025. The Lions have not won this many football games in

02:34consecutive seasons ever in franchise history and the attrition and success has garnered attention from

02:42those across the league making it already hard enough before father time comes to take his annual

02:48penance in the form of a retirement to one of your best players. But that's where the Lions find

02:54themselves. But the question now is how well the young players that are new pieces to this puzzle and have

03:00not been indoctrinated by the Dan Campbell approach to coaching a football team? Christian Mahogany,

03:06Tate Rattledge, Miles Frazier. How ready are they to provide the solutions? If the answer is very,

03:13then the Detroit Lions will be just fine in 2025.