Lions Wire’s brother site Touchdown Wire has been ranking the Top-11 players at every position for the 2020 season and the Detroit Lions’ Frank Ragnow checks in as the seventh-best center in NFL in their latest article.
“A good center is the unheralded captain of an offense,” Doug Farrar said. “While we all talk about skill position players, and maybe throw in the names of a few marquee offensive tackles if we’re feeling particularly smart, interior offensive linemen are crucial to the implementation of any offensive design.”
The Lions believe in this approach to the center position and it’s a big reason why they made Ragnow a first-round selection. The Lions did one of their best draft misdirections that year, subtly indicating interest in several other players while secretly targeting Ragnow to be the anchor up front.
One of the toughest blocks that a center has to make is the 'back block,' especially the further away the backside DT is aligned.
Lions C Frank Ragnow is outstanding at lining up & fitting on DTs as far away as a 3T, which is special. Some examples here. pic.twitter.com/yTmSIaL172
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) September 26, 2019
“The Lions selected Ragnow with the 20th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Arkansas, and started his NFL career by placing him at left guard for all but one of his 1,087 snaps in his rookie year,” Farrar said. “Ragnow allowed four sacks and 36 total pressures in that role, but when he moved to center last season, everything fell into place.
“Ragnow allowed just two sacks and 18 total pressures in 2019 despite the back injury that cost Matthew Stafford half his season and put David Blough and Jeff Driskel in the spotlight. Ragnow has the strength and leverage to rock defensive linemen off their feet, and the agility to excel in any quick zone-based scheme.”
In his first year as the Lions fulltime center, Ragnow spent several weeks in 2019 as the highest-graded player at his position on Pro Football Focus’ grading scale, eventually finishing the season sixth on the list. He has the potential to be the best center in the NFL with time, which lines up with Farrar’s conclusion:
“With (Mathew) Stafford back in the game, and more reps at center at the NFL level, there’s little doubt that Ragnow’s is a name on the way up at his position.”