![\"Lions'](\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/images\/smg\/2024\/08\/26\/SMGW\/74509971007-USATSI_23236131-e1715361369474_1.jpeg?crop=2345,1320,x0,y325&width=660&height=371&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
CHICAGO \u2013 Christian Mahogany was a week removed from playing in last year\u2019s Shrine Bowl college all-star game when he texted a group chat of friends he plays the video game \u201cMadden\u201d with online and told them there was one team he most wanted to play for in the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanna be in detroit,\u201d Mahogany wrote Feb. 9 in a text message he showed to the Free Press after\u00a0Sunday\u2019s win over the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an O-line place. Gritty,\u201d Mahogany explained of his reasoning. \u201cI said I want to be in Detroit, me and Penei Sewell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahogany got his wish, though not exactly the way he hoped when he slid to the sixth round in April\u2019s draft over medical concerns and the Lions\u00a0took him with the 210th<\/sup>\u00a0overall pick.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Mahogany made his first career start as\u00a0an injury fill-in for Graham Glasgow\u00a0and showed why he felt like he belonged.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was solid,\u201d Lions coach Dan Campbell said. \u201cHe did some really good things, so there\u2019s certainly something to continue to work with there and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahogany\u2019s performance was especially encouraging because of the road he took to get there.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 depth chart as the team\u2019s No. 3 guard.<\/p>\n Awosika made fill-in starts at both guard spots in the season\u2019s first six games and started for the Lions in\u00a0last year\u2019s NFC championship loss to the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n Campbell said the Lions decided to bump Mahogany up the depth chart based on \u201cjust the amount of development that took place during that period\u201d after he returned.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a young guy and it\u2019s really that you\u2019re not going to know (if he\u2019s ready to play) unless you go,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cYou feel like you see the improvement and the last thing to find out is, \u2018Can he play in a real game?\u2019 You feel like he can, and so it was just, we felt like he went there. Yode (Awosika) has been solid, he\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019 big gains. He said after the game he felt \u201cgood\u201d about his debut overall, without having the benefit yet of watching the tape.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was fun,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was everything I thought it would be. Definitely things to improve on for sure, but that\u2019s what watching the tape\u2019s for, to get better, right? Nobody\u2019s perfect. I know I\u2019m not, so I\u2019m glad for the opportunity to get better and see what happens next week.\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell said Monday that\u00a0Glasgow will return to the starting lineup\u00a0for this week\u2019s rematch with the 49ers. Still, it\u2019s not unreasonable to think Mahogany could push for more playing time and perhaps a starting job next fall.<\/p>\n Glasgow is 32 and the Lions\u2019 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything happens for a reason, I believe, so this happened for a reason,\u201d Mahogany said. \u201cI\u2019m glad that I got (my first start) out the way and I\u2019m ready to improve and see what I can do for my teammates, coaches and this franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" freep.com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n