On Friday the Detroit Lions placed rookie tight end Hunter Bryant on injured reserve, freeing up a spot on the 53-man roster. Today, the Lions filled that spot by removing starting guard Joe Dahl from injured reserve and placing him back on the active roster.
After a solid Week 1 outing, Dahl injured his groin during Week 2 practices and was placed on injured reserve. After three weeks of recovery, Dahl returned to the practice field this week and coach Matt Patricia was pleased with what he saw.
“I thought on Wednesday with the pads on, I thought Joe looked pretty good,” Patricia said at his Friday press conference. “Came out, his pad level was good, I thought he moved well, that was a good competitive practice for us.”
The Lions have been shuffling their offensive line all season, and now with Dahl back in the fold, the Lions have a chance to put their preferred combination on the filed — assuming Frank Ragnow can overcome his questionable tag and resume his role at center.
If Ragnow is unable to play, Dahl could be the preferred option to take over at center. Jonah Jackson also has experience at the position, but asking the rookie to start at three different positions over his first five games is a big ask — but not out of the question.
At the end of the day, the Lions appear to favor a Top-6 offensive linemen with a debate about who is number five and who is number six — choosing between Hal Vaitai and Tyrell Crosby, who can both play tackle and guard. If Ragnow plays, one of them will be on the bench. If Ragnow is out, both play and a shuffling of players on the interior begins.
Here’s a look at some of the offensive line combinations we could see on Sunday.
The original starting 5
| Left Tackle | Left Guard | Center | Right Guard | Right Tackle |
| Taylor Decker | Joe Dahl | Frank Ragnow | Jonah Jackson | Hal Vaitai |
Crosby outplays Vaitai
| Left Tackle | Left Guard | Center | Right Guard | Right Tackle |
| Taylor Decker | Joe Dahl | Frank Ragnow | Jonah Jackson | Tyrell Crosby |
Dahl replaces an injured Ragnow
| Left Tackle | Left Guard | Center | Right Guard | Right Tackle |
| Taylor Decker | Jonah Jackson | Joe Dahl | Hal Vaitai | Tyrell Crosby |
Jackson replaces an injured Ragnow
| Left Tackle | Left Guard | Center | Right Guard | Right Tackle |
| Taylor Decker | Joe Dahl | Jonah Jackson | Hal Vaitai | Tyrell Crosby |
We will have to wait until Sunday to see how it plays out, but any which way, Dahl returning couldn’t have come at a better time.