Rumor: Why Christian Mahogany May Have Dropped to Lions

A possible explanation for Mahogany's Draft slide.

Mar 3, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Boston College offensive lineman Christian Mahogany (OL46) during the NFL Scouting Combine. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions had an ideal scenario take place during the final day of the NFL Draft, as they were able to land Boston College offensive guard Christian Mahogany with their final pick in the sixth round.

Mahogany was a consensus top-100 prospect, so his fall within the Draft was puzzling. In the end, he wound up being in the perfect spot for the Lions to pick him up and add him to their offensive line.

“I was shocked. I didn’t think he would still be there at that point," Holmes said. "I can’t really go into details. I can probably point out a thing here or there that may have been a reason that we’ll keep internally, but there’s other players that I probably would have had a lot more questions on that went. I don’t know. I just know that he fits how we want to play, and he’s a tough, physical – he’s got some dirtbag in him and he’s just one of those tough, Jersey kids that doesn’t take a lot of crap. He’s got some fun tape to watch and he’s gone against some good defensive linemen and he’s done well versus them. So, we were excited to get him.”

The Detroit Lions Podcast discussed possible reasons for the slide, revealing that the fall may be related to the fact that Mahogany allegedly has one leg that is longer than the other.

"It's so interesting. The way that these teams look at players is far beyond just film and GPS speed and everything else," co-host Chris hypothesized. "The word on the street is, and it's not even on the street but in another place, is that he has a leg that is longer than the other one by a decent amount. Okay, that's a physical anomaly but it doesn't change the way that he plays."

It's an interesting note, as it shows the depths in which teams evaluate their prospects if that's the case. Mahogany also has injury history in his past, as he suffered a torn ACL and was forced to miss the entire 2022 season.

Another potential reason for his slide could be the fact that many teams' schemes may not fit his play style. The Lions run a gap scheme with their runs, while much of the rest of the league prefers to run outside zone that requires blockers to account for multiple gaps.

Mahogany is a better fit for the Lions system given his physical, bruising style of play.

"It's interesting, two-thirds of the teams were out on him for scheme fit," Chris explained with co-host Jeff Risdon. "But then he falls. The quality of player is there, you've seen him, you know what he's got. For something like this, it's really strange and it's one of those things where, teams look at everything. I think something like this makes them a little bit nervous because from like a strength, training and conditioning and all that, how do you deal with that?"

Speaking after being drafted on Saturday, Mahogany expressed that he wasn't concerned about his slide and feels that Detroit was one of the best situations he could end up.

“No, I wasn’t really thinking that," Mahogany explained. "Everything happens for a reason. I really do feel like this is one of the best spots for me. I probably said that before the Draft started, before the pre-Draft process started. Just being able to get picked where I got picked is a blessing in and of itself. I’m glad that it was Detroit and I’m just happy to move on.”