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Lions rookie center Graham Glasgow finished minicamp nicely according to Jim Caldwell.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- When the Detroit Lions used their third-round pick on a center, for the second time in three years, it seemed as though Travis Swanson's job might be imperiled.

After OTAs and minicamp, perhaps his job is a little safer than originally thought.

Swanson not only repped ahead of rookie Graham Glasgow throughout those portions of the offseason, but so did Gabe Ikard.

It's unclear whether Glasgow's third-team reps are an indicator of just how far behind he is, or if Detroit simply wants to get him some low-key reps before turning up the heat in training camp. Either way, it sure seems like Swanson is the Lions' No. 1 center heading into the break, though Glasgow did show some flashes of improvement in recent days.

"Yeah, coming, making progress," coach Jim Caldwell said after wrapping up minicamp with a walk-through on Thursday. "The last week or so, he's really made some strides."

Glasgow originally enrolled at Michigan as a walk-on, but eventually cracked the lineup. He played in five games as a junior in 2013, then started all 13 in 2014, nine of which came at center.

He really refined his game under Jim Harbaugh as a redshirt senior last year, starting all 13 games at center, and the Lions selected him in the third round of the draft. He'll compete for a job with Swanson -- once the heir apparent at the position himself, after being selected out of Arkansas in the third round of the 2014 draft.

But Swanson struggled last year, his first as a full-time starter. The Lions still have hope he'll sort himself out, noting how difficult that position is for a rookie. And the same goes for Glasgow.

"We put a lot on the center, a lot like we do on the quarterback," Caldwell said. "I think you guys are probably getting the sense of it. They run the show, and the two guys that have to be in sync and have to have a great understanding of everything that's going on is the quarterback and the center.

"I mean, those guys direct traffic. The center directs all your calls that you give inside and out, he identifies the front, they make the key indicator calls along with your quarterback. If there's something that one sees that the other doesn't jive with, they have to be able to communicate well. That is a lot of information for a young guy to handle, so it takes them a little while."

But Glasgow has been putting in the work. He's rooming in a local hotel with former Michigan teammate Jake Rudock, a quarterback selected in the sixth round of the draft, and picking his brain most nights about the playbook.

At the facility, he's frequently seen having extra conversations with assistant coaches. He was the last person off the field after Thursday's walk-through, as he talked through some finer points of the position with a coach.

"He's not arrived yet, but I can see now that he's a little bit more comfortable with things that he was sort of struggling with early on," Caldwell said. "But obviously, I think we all can see that he has size, he has strength, he has the will power, he's a smart guy and he's gotten better. So I've been pleased with his progress."

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