Lions star’s surprise retirement leaves Detroit in a bind

One of the NFL’s best centers has decided to hang up the cleats.

Detroit Lions’ center Frank Ragnow, 29, announced his retirement on Instagram, as the Lions continue to ramp up Organized Team Activities, OTAs.

It was a phenomenal run for Ragnow, who was drafted in the first round by the Lions in 2018 and turned that into being a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time AP second team All-Pro. One of the earliest building blocks of the Lions’ standout offensive line we see today, Ragnow was a warrior, highlighted by a 2023 postseason run where he was playing through some nasty ankle and foot injuries that plagued him in that run and for most of his career. Despite those injuries and chronic issues, Ragnow started 96 games and gave the Lions incredibly high quality offensive line play.

Where do the Lions go from here at the pivot spot? Well they have a few choices, starting with their rookie second round pick Tate Ratledge. Ratledge has been getting the first-team reps at center during OTAs with Ragnow being gone, and that could be seen as his onboarding process to the starting center gig. However, he never played center during his time at Georgia, and moving him in the midst of the Lions’ chase for a Super Bowl ring could be considered a big risk...though, Ragnow moved to center after one year in the NFL at guard.

Another option is second-year guard Christian Mahogany, a promising player from Boston College. Again, didn’t play center in college, but has the movement skills and athleticism to move there. Veteran guard Graham Glasgow has center experience as well, but then there’s a lot of moving parts and creating holes where they might not be necessary.

If I had to guess today, Ratledge would be the starting center, with Glasgow and Mahogany on both sides of him at left and right guard, respectively. Still a formidable offensive line, but without Ragnow this could be a major blow.