The Lions’ Offensive Line Chess Game Just Got More Interesting
Brad Holmes has been busy this offseason. The Lions have thrown serious resources at fixing their offensive line, and it shows. They grabbed center Cade Mays and swing tackle Larry Borom in free agency, then snagged right tackle Blake Miller in the draft. Add in depth pieces like Juice Scruggs, Ben Bartch, Seth McLaughlin, Melvin Preistly, plus the returning Michael Niese alongside Miles Frazier and Christian Mahogany.
That’s a lot of bodies. But here’s where it gets interesting.
There’s a battle brewing for the left guard spot, except one of the guys you’d expect to be fighting for it might not even be in the competition. Why? Because the Lions are reportedly considering moving Miles Frazier to tackle.
Why This Actually Makes Perfect Sense
If you’ve been paying attention to how Holmes operates, this shouldn’t surprise you. The man loves versatility more than a kid loves candy. If you can play multiple positions, you’re getting a longer look in Allen Park. It’s that simple.
Frazier came to Detroit as a right guard, but he’s got the resume to handle more. At LSU, he played left guard, left tackle, and right tackle. Not spot duty here and there. Full seasons. He’s got the size at 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, plus the athleticism to make it work.
Sure, there are concerns about arm length. His arms are just under 33 inches, which isn’t ideal for tackle work. But nobody’s expecting Frazier to start at tackle right away. The plan would be developing him as the swing tackle behind Larry Borom in 2025, with an eye toward potentially taking over that role in 2027.
You test him at tackle during camp. If he can handle it at the NFL level, you keep working with him all of 2026 behind Borom, then make the call on whether he’s ready for the big swing role later.
The Ripple Effect Through the Roster
Moving Frazier to tackle creates some interesting domino effects. First, it means he’s your tackle project now. That also probably means cutting losses on the Giovanni Manu experiment and admitting it didn’t work out. Unless Manu shows up with a major step forward, but let’s be realistic here.
But here’s the good part. Taking Frazier out of the guard competition opens up a roster spot in that room. Now you can potentially keep Christian Mahogany and Juice Scruggs, and maybe even find room for a veteran like Ben Bartch or let Michael Niese earn his spot with his guard-center flexibility.
This move actively makes the Lions deeper. The question isn’t whether it makes sense. The question is whether they’ll actually pull the trigger.
Is this Holmes playing 4D chess again, or are we reading too much into training camp positioning battles? Let me know what you think in the comments.
This is exactly the kind of creative roster management that gets me hyped. Holmes isn’t just throwing money at problems, he’s thinking layers ahead about what guys can actually do. If Frazier can develop as a swing tackle, suddenly you’ve got actual depth on the line and flexibility for the future. That’s the kind of planning I want to see.
Look, I like the idea in theory, but moving him to tackle when he’s got undersized arms and we’re already loaded at guard feels like we’re making the position battle harder than it needs to be. I’ll trust Holmes because he’s earned it, but I want to see this actually work in camp before I’m convinced it’s genius.
Man, this is such a different approach than what we used to get around here. Back in the day the front office would just panic and shuffle guys around like they had no plan. Holmes is actually thinking about what a guy can become instead of just jamming him into one spot. That’s a breath of fresh air.
The versatility angle is huge and I’m all in on it. You want athletes who can move around and keep competing, and Frazier’s got the size and college tape to potentially handle it. Even if he ends up being a quality backup tackle that’s a win for depth. This roster is starting to feel like it’s built the right way.