Lions Projected to Find New Frank Ragnow Replacement
The Detroit Lions are trying to replace two coordinators this season. But another departure the team is currently dealing with is center. Veteran Frank Ragnow retired following the 2024 campaign, which gave Detroit a significant hole in the middle of the team’s offensive line. On Friday, SI on College Football’s Randy Gurzi predicted the Lions to fill that void during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
In a new mock draft, Gurzi projected the Lions to select Auburn center Connor Lew at No. 28 overall.
“Frank Ragnow’s retirement was shocking, and it gives the Lions one major need,” Gurzi wrote. “They fill that with Connor Lew, the best center in this class.”
Lew was the only center off the board in the first round of Gurzi’s mock draft. Although he was a late first-rounder in the mock, Lew was also just the fourth offensive linemen to be selected.
Could Lions Select Center Early in 2026 NFL Draft?
There’s a long way to go before the 2026 NFL Draft. As a result, there are three big unknowns — Detroit’s biggest need entering 2026, which prospects will best fit those needs, and where the Lions will be selecting in the first round.
With those unknowns, it’s pretty difficult to project anything about the 2026 NFL Draft.
If the Lions had to make their 2026 first-round pick today, though, center would be an obvious choice. Likewise, Lew is one of the most best fits to fill that need.
After Ragnow’s retirement, veteran interior offensive lineman Graham Glasgow moved to center for the Lions. Last year, Glasgow started at left guard in Detroit.
The veteran has previously started at center in his career. This season, though, his results have been mixed through the first two weeks. According to the Pro Football Focus player grades, Glasgow has excelled in pass protection but severely struggled at run blocking.
Ragnow was regularly one of the top-rated centers in the PFF player grades over the last few years. He also made three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2022-24 and second-team All-Pro three times with the Lions, including in 2023 and 2024.
But Ragnow retired at 29 years old this offseason in large part because of significant nagging injuries.
Lew has been a star at Auburn since his freshman season. He could offer the Lions an immediate all-around upgrade in the middle of the offensive line.
“Now entering his third season as the Tigers’ starting center, Lew has already been pegged by head coach Hugh Freeze as ‘an NFL center’ and is generating legitimate buzz as a potential first-team All-SEC performer,” NFL Draft Buzz wrote. “His development trajectory puts him in rare company – you simply don’t see many centers start from day one in the SEC and improve at this rate.”
Could the Lions Move Tate Ratledge to Center?
Gurzi correctly identified center as a need for the Lions. But it’s possible the team already has its franchise center of the future.
In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Lions selected interior offensive linemen Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier. Detroit picked Ratledge, who is starting at right guard this season, at No. 57 overall in the second round.
Ratledge has the potential to play center in his NFL career.
“I don’t know what the future’s going to bring. But yeah, I just think, we felt good about trying him here,” Holmes said of Ratledge, via SI on Lions’ John Maakaon. “And look, I think he could’ve handled [center] if we just could’ve left him there.
“But when you start looking at the whole combination of him and [Glasgow] and everything, I think that that was the best thing for not only the players being put in the best positions, but also for the team.”
If Lew offers the Lions generational center potential, then perhaps the team selects the Auburn lineman to start him next to Ratledge. But if Ratledge could start at center, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Lions to target a different need in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Bruins’ Core Faces Redemption Year
It’s almost that time of the year where the Boston Bruins will report to camp. The competition for roster spots will begin, and preseason hockey is right around the corner. This 2025-26 Bruins season has anticipation to it. After a poor season and having a new coach in Marco Sturm, all eyes will be on how they improve. These three players will look to bounce back and be a key part of the team’s success.
Elias Lindholm
This is a no-brainer, and the first player that comes to mind for a bounce-back candidate. Elias Lindholm signed the big-ticket contract in free agency, and it was a down season for the center. The vision for general manager Don Sweeney was that he would be the team’s number one center. Given the talent on the roster, he is penciled in on the top line and will look to bounce back and produce.
It was a down year right from the start. However, he had a very strong start to the season. In the team’s first three games, Lindholm scored two goals and had five points. It was good to see, and he made a strong impression on the club. Then the streakiness crept in, and it became a theme for the majority of the season. After the third game of the season, he went 18 games without a goal and then another drought that lasted 11 games. It just kept going and going, and even then, the point drought was an issue too.
Lindholm finished with 47 points, which is only three more than he had all of the 2023-24 season between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames combined. In addition, 25 of those came at five-on-five play. Although it has been reported that Lindholm did have a hand injury he suffered at the start of camp, which plagued his season.
The optimism is that he began to catch fire playing alongside David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. He finished with 16 points in the final two months of the season and nine in April. A full season playing between the team’s top two goal scorers from a season ago should help elevate his game.
Jeremy Swayman
There is nobody more crucial to the Bruins’ success during the 2025-26 season than goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The decision has been made that he is their true number one goalie, and they’ve made the financial commitment to him as well. Swayman wanted the added playing time and wanted the crease, and now he’s got to prove it.
Swayman’s season was a disaster right from the start. From the contract negotiations to jumping right into game action, it was never easy. Granted, the team in front of him did him no favors, but his play took a dive. It was the first season in his professional career where the results were rather poor. He finished the 2024-25 season with a 3.11 goals-against average (GAA) and a .892 save percentage (SV%). Not to mention, the negative-9.1 goals saved above expected. This is a goalie who has had a positive goals saved above expected his entire career, and that number has risen with each passing season from 2021 to 2024.
With the big contract comes big expectations. The Bruins do not have high expectations entering the 2025-26 season, but the expectation is that Swayman does bounce back. If they have below-average goaltending, the season will be all but lost. They don’t have the talent to outscore their goalie woes. But there is optimism.
Swayman played his best hockey of the entire season at the World Championship. He won every game, finished with a .921 SV% and a 1.69 GAA. He has been invited to the USA Olympic camp and will be competing for a roster spot with Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Joey Daccord. The first two are locks, but Swayman will want to fuel his fire and earn that roster spot with his stellar play.
Swayman will need to be at his best, and the expectation is that he takes those steps to bounce back this season.
Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm is worthy of this, only because he is returning from a knee injury. But if there is an engine that will spearhead the charge from the backend, it is none other than Charlie McAvoy. The Stallion on the backend is coming off a down season, with just 23 points in 50 games. It is the lowest point total of his hockey career.
McAvoy is the workhorse and leader on defense. He will be tasked with logging big minutes and even being able to mentor the young Mason Lohrei. McAvoy was a turnover machine this past season with 72 giveaways, and while he does need to improve in his own end, the rest of the team does as well.
One thing that McAvoy is tasked with is quarterbacking the power play. It’s been a glaring hole since Torey Krug bolted for the St. Louis Blues. He only had four power-play points this past season, and the Bruins’ power play was 29th with a 15.2% success rate.
The engine starts with McAvoy. The Bruins will be built on defense and goaltending, and if he can get back to being a top ten defenseman in the league, the Bruins are in tremendous shape.
These Three Will Be Relied On
If the Bruins are going to have any form of success during the 2025-26 season, it begins with these three players. The top line center, number one defenseman, and number one goalie all managed to have down seasons. If they elevate their play to what they are expected to perform at, this team is in a better spot. It’s going to be one heck of a ride this season for the Bruins, and these guys are going to lead the way.
