CHICAGO – Christian Mahogany was a week removed from playing in last year’s Shrine Bowl college all-star game when he texted a group chat of friends he plays the video game “Madden” with online and told them there was one team he most wanted to play for in the NFL.
“I wanna be in detroit,” Mahogany wrote Feb. 9 in a text message he showed to the Free Press after Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears.
“This is an O-line place. Gritty,” Mahogany explained of his reasoning. “I said I want to be in Detroit, me and Penei Sewell.”
Mahogany got his wish, though not exactly the way he hoped when he slid to the sixth round in April’s draft over medical concerns and the Lions took him with the 210th overall pick.
On Sunday, Mahogany made his first career start as an injury fill-in for Graham Glasgow and showed why he felt like he belonged.
He played left guard sandwiched between veterans Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow. He earned high marks from Pro Football Focus for his blocking. And he showed enough nastiness to think he could challenge for a full-time starting job somewhere down the road.
“It was solid,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “He did some really good things, so there’s certainly something to continue to work with there and improve.”
Mahogany’s performance was especially encouraging because of the road he took to get there.
After making a favorable first impression in spring workouts after the draft, Mahogany missed all of training camp with mononucleosis and opened the season on the nonfootball illness list.
The Lions activated him to their 53-man roster in late October, and less than a month later and with no game reps to draw from, the Boston College product surpassed trusted veteran Kayode Awosika on the Lions’ depth chart as the team’s No. 3 guard.
Awosika made fill-in starts at both guard spots in the season’s first six games and started for the Lions in last year’s NFC championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Campbell said the Lions decided to bump Mahogany up the depth chart based on “just the amount of development that took place during that period” after he returned.
“He’s a young guy and it’s really that you’re not going to know (if he’s ready to play) unless you go,” Campbell said. “You feel like you see the improvement and the last thing to find out is, ‘Can he play in a real game?’ You feel like he can, and so it was just, we felt like he went there. Yode (Awosika) has been solid, he’s been steady. We like Yode, we know what Yode can do. But we needed to find out with Mahogany and seeing the growth and the development, it was time.”
Against the Bears, Mahogany allowed one quarterback hit by Chris Williams on a third-down incompletion and was penalized once for a false start, but made key blocks in pass protection and the run game on several of the Lions’ big gains. He said after the game he felt “good” about his debut overall, without having the benefit yet of watching the tape.
“It was fun,” he said. “It was everything I thought it would be. Definitely things to improve on for sure, but that’s what watching the tape’s for, to get better, right? Nobody’s perfect. I know I’m not, so I’m glad for the opportunity to get better and see what happens next week.”
Campbell said Monday that Glasgow will return to the starting lineup for this week’s rematch with the 49ers. Still, it’s not unreasonable to think Mahogany could push for more playing time and perhaps a starting job next fall.
Glasgow is 32 and the Lions’ most versatile interior lineman, but has been inconsistent at times this year. Right guard Kevin Zeitler has played at a Pro Bowl level this season, but turns 35 in March and will be a free agent after the year.
However things shake out in the future, Mahogany is focused on getting better in the here and now and helping the Lions win more games.
“Everything happens for a reason, I believe, so this happened for a reason,” Mahogany said. “I’m glad that I got (my first start) out the way and I’m ready to improve and see what I can do for my teammates, coaches and this franchise.”
