This article is presented by Antonio’s Italian Cucina

Yesterday, Frank Ragnow shocked Detroit Lions fans (and really, the whole NFL) with this post on Instagram:

Somewhat prematurely, Ragnow decided to retire amidst ongoing health battles and concern. In his career in Detroit, he battled through the following:

• Fractured Throat (how is this even possible)
• Turf Toe (deemed “inoperable” which does not seem like a great long-term diagnosis)
• Calf, back, knee, ankle (all within weeks of each other in 2023- injuries that Ragnow described as “frustrating” but not enough to sideline him)

So, look, the guy’s body has been through hell. Offensive line is one of those positions where the culture of the position is such where you don’t really take time on the IR unless you’re literally unable to play, and it’s clear from this injury history that Frank Ragnow has dealt with a lot throughout his career. You’re not going to hear any complaints from me: we get to enjoy an NFL player for a brief time in the peak of their physical prime, but they obviously have to think about what their quality of life will look like once they stop playing the game. I sincerely hope that Frank’s body gets the rest he deserves, and I will fondly look upon him as a key part of what made these Lions teams so great.

This does leave us with a few questions moving forward, though. Namely: what does this team’s offense look like moving forward? PFF had him ranked as the third best center in football last year, and in a year where you’re going to have a new offensive coordinator, it really sucks that you won’t have a veteran snapping the ball. I would imagine you’re going to have Graham Glasgow fill-in, as he was the go-to when Ragnow was unable to play center, but everyone is looking towards the Lions draft pick, Tate Ratledge, as being the long-term replacement.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I went to Western Michigan University, but I earned a Master’s degree at the University of Georgia, and as such, I consider UGA my adopted team. I’ve watched a fair bit of Ratledge in college and to be a three-year starter at a school like Georgia is no small feat. Although he never played center, Ratledge did well for the most part at Right Guard. I will say, though, he had some strange moments where it looked like he completely missed an assignment on run blocking, which absolutely killed some drives for UGA last year. As was mentioned numerous times in the draft coverage, he’s going to fit in perfectly with Dan Campbell’s culture, so I would imagine that’s going to elevate his game a fair bit. The fact that he will have future hall of famer Penei Sewell on the line and veteran leadership like Glasgow and Decker certainly doesn’t hurt either. I think he will be able to fill in nicely, it’s just tough to put Super Bowl caliber expectations on a rookie.

One thing that gives me confidence moving forward though, despite all of the “newness” on the offense, is the veteran presence and talent in our offense- namely in our running backs. The true strength of this offensive line has been their ability to create running lanes for Montgomery and Gibbs to tear apart defenses, and I truly believe that any slip in performance with Ragnow’s retirement will be cancelled out by the natural development of Gibbs’ running game. What frustrated me to no end (amongst all other things) in that playoff game against the Commanders was the insistence on handing the ball off to Montgomery when Gibbs had been shredding defenses in Monty’s absence. I certainly understand the need for balance, but in that Minnesota game, Gibbs absolutely proved that he could be a sole, leading back. I think that his patience and vision in the backfield has always been a huge benefit to his game, and with another year of development, we should see a breakout season from Gibbs.

Finally, while there are admittedly a lot of changes on the offense, there is one steady presence that remains crucial to the success of the whole season: Jared Goff. The whole subtext of both the Ragnow and Ben Johnson absence is that, without them, Jared Goff is going to take a tremendous step back and our offense is going to be in complete shambles. This feels disrespectful to a guy that played like an MVP for half the season last year, and while the end of the season left somewhat of a bad taste in our mouths, this feels like a real opportunity for Goff to step up and silence all the haters and doubters. I think that the days of chanting “Jared Goff” at Wings games are over, and the fanbase is about one bad playoff loss away from completely turning on the guy, which is unfair, but so it goes.