Lions’ offensive line boasts youth, seeks leader

Allen Park — During his first two seasons as Lions offensive line coach, Jeremiah Washburn explained veteran center Dominic Raiola was effectively another assistant coach for the group.

With Raiola gone, along with a few other veterans, Washburn and the Lions’ young offensive linemen no longer have that crutch. And Washburn is as curious as anyone to see who — besides Manny Ramirez — will fill the leadership void up front.

“That’s been a topic of discussion at my house a lot. What’s this room going to be like?” Washburn said. “I don’t know, but it’s kind of exciting.”

The excitement comes with what could be a young and budding offensive line group, one that has at least a few players that should be in place for the foreseeable future.

After taking some steps the past couple of years, the Lions have completely overhauled their offensive line. They let Raiola and Rob Sims leave in free agency; Raiola started at center the last 13 years, and Sims was the left guard for the past five.

Those are the two big names, but as Washburn and a couple of players noted, the Lions also lost tackle Corey Hilliard, 30, and tackle/guard Garrett Reynolds, 28, in free agency.

Now, Ramirez, 32, who the Lions acquired in a trade in April, is the eldest offensive lineman by far, six years older than Riley Reiff. Reiff, 26, is one of the quietest players on the team, but unless Ramirez wins the starting left guard job ahead of first-round pick Laken Tomlinson, Reiff will have to take a bigger leadership role among the starters.

“He has to get out of his comfort zone a little bit, but he has,” Washburn said of Reiff, the left tackle. “He’s been great as far as leadership, (setting an) example, and then speaking up when he has to.”

Steadily building

The overhaul started in 2012 when the Lions chose Reiff in the first round, seeing him as the long-term replacement for Jeff Backus. In 2013, the Lions used a third-round pick on right guard Larry Warford, and last year, they took center Travis Swanson in the third round.

Thanks to hitting on a couple of undrafted free agents, LaAdrian Waddle in 2013 and Cornelius Lucas in 2014, the Lions are comfortable with the right tackle position for 2015. And this year, they added Tomlinson in the first round.

The hope, Washburn said, is the Lions can become a dependable unit for years to come, akin to the Chiefs’ offensive line in the 1990s and what the Cowboys have built in recent years.

“If you do it right, you can get a cohesive group that can play together for a while, and that’s hard to find in the NFL,” he said. “You don’t find many lines that play together over more than three to four years, and if you can get something like that, the Lions will be fortunate.”

The other potential benefit for the Lions going young is this year’s offensive line should be more athletic than the one from 2014, which played significantly worse than the 2013 unit despite opening the season with four of the same starters.

Veterans missed

It became evident quickly last season that Raiola, 36, and Sims, 31, weren’t the players they once were, and the duo remaining free agents into August is a sign other teams weren’t impressed with their tape either.

Between their lackluster play and injuries, the Lions’ offensive line struggled as a whole.

The team ranked 28th in rushing and allowed 45 sacks of Matthew Stafford, a career high one year after the group gave up just 23 sacks.

While the Lions expect to replace Sims and Raiola with high-pedigree players in Tomlinson and Swanson, the absence of the veterans has been noticeable in meetings.

“We miss Rob because he was a clown for sure, and Dom was just hilarious,” Warford said. “Those guys, you can’t replace them because they were just staples, but you’ve got some new characters in here and it’s a different chemistry.

“But it’s still great, it still works and it’s fresh and it’s new, so that’s cool.”

In the NFL, new isn’t always better, and the Lions could still look to add another veteran offensive tackle before the season begins, though general manager Martin Mayhew said he likes the team’s youth at the spot.

To ensure the line actually improves compared to last season, Swanson said the players are reminding each other each day that they have a long way to go.

As far as the new leadership, Washburn said he and assistant offensive line coach Terry Heffernan will try to make that as organic as possible.

“We’re just going to keep our hands off some of this stuff, and let’s see how the room shapes itself, see whose personalities come out,” Washburn said. “It’s different, though.”

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

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