Burning Question: Should Christian Mahogany Replace Graham Glasgow?

Should Mahogany step into starting lineup?

Detroit Lions offensive lineman Christian Mahogany (73). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions got their first extended look at sixth-round pick Christian Mahogany in Sunday's 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears.

Mahogany started in place of Graham Glasgow, who was out with a knee injury. At this present juncture, coach Dan Campbell expects Glasgow to recover his post at left guard for Monday's game against the San Francisco 49ers.

“I see Graham coming back," Campbell said. "I think he’s gonna be ready to roll, and he’s gonna slip right back at left guard and start for us. It’s gonna be great.” 

The rookie had a 70.6 overall Pro Football Focus grade in Sunday's game and allowed one pressure on 33 pass-blocking snaps.

While Mahogany will likely be relegated to a backup role in the immediate future, he showed plenty of promise in his first career start against the Bears. It was the continuation of a process that began when Mahogany was first reinstated to the active roster on Oct. 30.

The rookie showcased a knack for blocking downfield in the screen game Sunday, including on the play below that resulted in a big gain for running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Since then, the Boston College product has usurped Kayode Awosika on the depth chart, as Awosika has been inactive dating back to the team's game against Indianapolis. Mahogany, meanwhile, has earned the backup role and as a result was inserted into the starting lineup on Sunday with Glasgow out.

Campbell noted that Mahogany has show necessary growth in practice, and recent weeks have provided the team an opportunity to learn what it has in the rookie in game situations.

“Just the amount of development that took place during that period knowing that we didn’t have him in training camp and you’re talking about basically, call it Week 3 of the season until two weeks ago, just the level of development that’s continued to go and he’s a young guy and it’s really that you’re not going to know unless you go. You feel like you see the improvement and the last thing to find out is, ‘Can he play in a real game?’ You feel like he can and so it was just, we felt like he went there. Yode has been solid, he’s been steady, we like Kayode, we know what Kayode can do. But we needed to find out with Mahogany and seeing the growth and the development, it was time.”

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Glasgow signed a three-year, $20 million contract extension after a resurgent year with the Lions in 2023. Sunday was the first game he's missed all season, and he provides valuable insurance for Detroit's offensive line with his ability to kick over and play either guard spot or center.

The Michigan product is more than capable of continuing to play at a high level, so his job is not in danger in the short-term. That's not to say Mahogany doesn't have a chance of working into a starting role in 2025.

For Mahogany, the best course of action could be to compete for the team's right guard spot in 2025. Kevin Zeitler, the current right guard, is on a one-year contract in his age-34 season. Mahogany could step into that role next season, as he's repped both positions in practice according to Campbell.

Another potential way forward in 2025 would be to slide Glasgow to right guard and insert Mahogany on the left side. However, Zeitler has been very steady for Detroit this season and could no doubt be a candidate to re-up with Detroit after the season.

The Lions are in a good position, as Mahogany provides them with a depth piece at the very least. He's still only played in one full game, so there could be other issues that pop up with his performance if given a longer spurt of playing time.

Mahogany's performance is certainly a good indication of what he can provide in the future for Detroit, but it's still too early to say that he should be a member of the team's starting lineup as they embark on their playoff push in 2024.