LIONS ROSTER PREVIEW: FRANK RAGNOW, THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE OF DETROIT'S HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE
As we head toward a new season, All Lions is taking a look at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we focus on center Frank Ragnow. Check out our past stories on Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker.
After looking at the Detroit Lions’ starting tackles, it’s time to look at the man in the middle: Frank Ragnow.
Since being drafted 20th overall in 2018, Ragnow has been the Lions' primary center and has been regarded as one of the best at his position.
Even so, he took things up a notch last season, giving up just one sack (tied for 25th-most), 18 pressures and five quarterback hits while being flagged three times (tied for 27th-most) in 989 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
He ranked as PFF’s top-rated center in the entire NFL — in fact, their top-graded interior lineman in the NFL — earning a run block grade of 91.3, a pass block grade of 70.3 and an overall grade of 88.8. Adding in the playoffs, he gave up five more pressures over three games.
Yeah, his pass blocking only grades out as 10th-best in the league and yet he gave up just one sack and just over one pressure per game on average while being an absolute road-grading run blocker.
He’s also still just 28 and has proven to be pretty durable and as tough as they come. He did miss two games last season, one in 2022, the majority of 2021 due to a toe injury that he had surgery for, plus two games in 2020 and one in 2019. And while the toe injury is concerning in that he’s said it’s something he’ll deal with throughout his career, it didn’t sideline him at all last season.
He’s a key reason why Detroit has the top-ranked offensive line in the NFL and, if he can remain healthy again in 2024, he figures to remain a key reason the Lions should have one of the best offenses in the league.