Detroit Lions Still Do Not Trust Christian Mahogany

Detroit Lions left guard Christian Mahogany still has not won the starting job heading into the 2026 NFL season-opener.

Speaking to reporters ahead of practice on Tuesday morning, Dan Campbell was asked was there a possibility he could give multiple players reps at left guard against the New Orleans Saints.

“Yeah, we could. I think really, this week is going to be, today they’re going to split," Campbell explained. "You know, I see them splitting on Thursday. I see them splitting on Friday, and then if nothing’s been decided by then, then maybe they both play.”

Detroit's coaching staff wanted Mahogany to battle to earn the starting job, but veteran Ben Bartch was not consistently available to battle for the starting job.

When Cade Mays went down with a wrist injury, Juice Scrubbs was slotted in as the starting center.

There are growing concerns about the offensive line and if general manager Brad Holmes provided Campbell enough depth.

Mahogany has also missed practice time and games early in his career. His play has been solid at times, but also inconsistent.

A similar issue that former coach Matt Patricia faced did not turn out well at all.

Recall, the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator attempted a guard rotation with Kenny Wiggins Joe Dahl and Graham Glasgow.

Mahogany likely has the leg up still to be the starter, but splitting reps also takes away valuable opportunities to get better and the cohesion along the offensive line is delayed.

Benefit of opening 2026 season at home

The former NFL tight end expressed starting the 2026 season at Ford Field will benefit the young players on the roster.

"That's always going to help with the young. Like last year we were playing with basically two rookies up front in a new center in a regard, even though Graham (Glasgow) had played quite a bit. So, playing at home helps a little bit just in that regard," said Campbell. "And then we're a little more experienced. I mean, Tate (Ratledge) has got another year under his belt. Blake Miller is taking some pretty good reps up to this point. Now he's still ,it's not like he's going to be perfect. That's not what it's about. It's about being consistent and getting a little bit better every rep, every time you play."

Campbell felt training camp helped the young players experience many stressful situations and team periods often required the offense to oversome adverse situations.

"That's the nature of being a young player. That always is going to happen. And then you have Mahogany, you have got Bartch over there and Juice (Scruggs) at center," said Campbell. "So, I feel like we've seen a lot in training camp. We've faced a lot of pressure. We've done a lot of, I feel like very stressful, strenuous situations.

"We always do a lot, but I felt like I threw a lot at our coordinators and the team. And I felt like we have got what we were looking for out of it.”

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