{"id":91289,"date":"2025-07-25T11:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T11:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91289\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T11:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T11:51:10","slug":"center-feeling-more-natural-to-detroit-lions-rookie-tate-ratledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91289\/","title":{"rendered":"Center feeling \u2018more natural\u2019 to Detroit Lions rookie Tate Ratledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time since training camp opened, Detroit Lions<\/a> second-round pick Tate Ratledge talked with the media on Thursday. He\u2019s been one of the most intriguing players on the team, as the rookie may have the tough task of filling the shoes of four-time Pro Bowler Frank Ragnow at center this year. <\/p>\n

The biggest hurdle? It\u2019s a relatively new position. The extent of his experience at center is taking reps during spring practices at Georgia last year, while the team was injured at the position. He didn\u2019t log a single game snap at the position in college. <\/p>\n

Yet since the spring here in Detroit, the Lions have toyed with the idea of him starting his NFL career at center. He split time there during OTAs, and he played nearly every snap with the first-team offense at center through the first three training camp practices. And Ratledge can already sense a significant difference from May to July. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot better than I was (doing) in the spring. It\u2019s becoming more natural to me,\u201d Ratledge said. \u201cThe playbook, getting used to it. So, it\u2019s definitely a lot easier now than it was in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not something he\u2019s imagining. The coaching staff is seeing it, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only two days, (but) I like where it\u2019s been versus the spring,\u201d coach Dan Campbell said. \u201cIt already feels better, it already feels more natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell also added that Ratledge is drinking from the firehose, as the Lions are throwing a ton at the 24-year-old offensive lineman. He has to learn new techniques, adjust to starting his blocking assignment with one hand down, learn an entire new playbook, and start diagnosing pressure packages from the defense. While it\u2019s all an adjustment for Ratledge, the rookie admitted two things are the biggest challenges right now: how quickly the game comes to you at the center position, and the mental responsibilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt guard, you got a little bit of a delay being off the ball, and then of course you get up here and you\u2019re going against quicker guys than I\u2019ve seen before. So, I think that was the biggest adjustment, just how fast everything happens,\u201d Ratledge said, later adding. \u201cThe mental side of it\u2019s definitely the hardest part. Getting everybody on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ratledge isn\u2019t doing it alone. For one, he\u2019s got the help of a nine-year veteran in Graham Glasgow, who has plenty of experience going from guard to center and back again. <\/p>\n

\u201cGraham\u2019s been a tremendous help, whether that be in the meeting room, on the field,\u201d Ratledge said. \u201cI know he\u2019s one of those guys I can come up and ask anything, and he\u2019ll probably have an answer for me. He\u2019s been great helping me with certain looks, certain techniques. So, it\u2019s been great having him to lean on.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also getting help from the other side of the ball. Nose tackle DJ Reader has been in the league since 2016, and he offers a unique perspective on how he beats opposing centers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a few reps he\u2019s gotten me on, and I\u2019ll go up and ask him what he saw, what I\u2019m doing to make that easier, where my hands need to be, stuff like that,\u201d Ratledge said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s done a great job helping me with that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lions are playing this by ear, at this point. While it certainly seems like they\u2019d love to make Ratledge the full-time center, he\u2019s going to have to earn it. With Glasgow\u2019s center experience, they\u2019re more than comfortable sliding him back inside, if necessary. That would kick Ratledge back to his college position at right guard\u2014where we saw him playing during Thursday\u2019s practice. <\/p>\n

Whatever the Lions end up choosing, Ratledge is down with it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy football. It doesn\u2019t matter where I am on the field, I love football. So yeah, I do enjoy center. I also enjoy guard. But like I said, it\u2019s football. I love being out there.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time since training camp opened, Detroit Lions second-round pick Tate Ratledge talked with the media…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":91290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[3953,1449,27705,27706,41715,9817,204,9321,13831,2698,1232,1539,3009,50282,3003,62,50281,447,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-91289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-center","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-lions-news","11":"tag-detroit-lions-quotes","12":"tag-detroit-lions-training-camp","13":"tag-feeling","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-lions","16":"tag-more","17":"tag-natural","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-of","20":"tag-pride","21":"tag-ratledge","22":"tag-rookie","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-tate","25":"tag-to","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114913731853526994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}