On the final day fans got to attend Detroit Lions training camp in Allen Park, the team’s No. 1 fan sure made it seem like a joyous sendoff.
That fan would be team owner Sheila Ford Hamp, who corralled several star players as they walked off the field, gave them hugs and had them take a few pictures with some of her guests Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Hamp didn’t speak with reporters. (Still waiting, Sheila. Any day would be fine.) And because I haven’t quite completed my Jomboy Media lip-reading training course, I wasn’t sure what she said to players like Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Aidan Hutchinson.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if she whispered something like, “Pleeeease help us!”
And by “us,” I mean the evolving offensive line
and the uncertainty in the secondary.
The Lions have a lot of stars, like the ones who stopped by for a Hamp hug. So one answer to the struggles the team might face this season with a secondary whose two star safeties are hurt, but mostly a developing O-line, is to rely on proven stars.
That means Gibbs has to work his elusive magic out of the backfield.
St. Brown and Sam LaPorta have get open and present quick, easy targets.
Williams has to streak down the field a little faster than usual to keep opposing secondaries from blitzing.
And Jared Goff needs to make it all work by getting rid of the ball probably even faster than he did last year in order to keep pass rushers off him, stay upright and move the offense.
It’s nearly impossible to judge any unit off what it does in training camp, especially without the benefit of seeing the team compete against an opponent in joint practices, which coach Dan Campbell scrubbed this year.
But whatever challenges the O-line faced got exponentially worse when center Cade Mays suffered a wrist injury that will keep him out for “a significant period” of time.
Mays was supposed to steady the ship after the Lions learned their lesson last year when they lost Frank Ragnow to a sudden retirement and had to use Graham Glasgow as a stopgap.
Now they’re back to the stopgap again it the form of Juice Scruggs, who has started just eight games at center in three NFL seasons. The Lions have a rookie right tackle in Blake Miller, who’s gotten cooked in camp by Hutchinson but had a solid debut in the preseason opener at Cincinnati.
Even though Penei Sewell is switching to left tackle and probably won’t play in the preseason, I’m not the least bit worried about him.
The O-line’s only holdovers with positional continuity come at guard. Tate Ratledge is coming off a solid rookie season at right guard, but left guard Christian Mahogany failed his physical and still lacks consistency.Campbell did laud him as a “physical force” against the Bengals,though he added the qualifier of “when he does it right.”
It’s safe to assume defenses will attack the Lions’ center and left guard positions, which could put tons of quick pressure on Goff up the middle. Fortunately for Goff, he went through this last year, when the O-line also struggled.
Last year, Goff’s average time to throw, according to Pro Football Focus, was 2.57 seconds, which was among the best in the NFL. Even though he got rid ball so quickly, his production didn’t suffer. His 7.9 yards-per-attempt ranked fifth-best among qualifying leaders.
Give Goff plenty of credit for running the offense so efficiently. But, again, he has lots of weapons who give him plenty of help.
You can’t have everything in the NFL, and maybe an evolving O-line that has to fight its way through an early injury and a lot of transition will be the Lions’ main challenge this season. But it their stars can help make it all work and get the team back to the playoffs, they should expect plenty more hugs from their No. 1 fan at the end of the season.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: There might be an obvious answer for Lions' offensive-line challenges
