Former Georgia center and Lions rookie Tate Ratledge may be seeing NFL action sooner than he or anyone thought this upcoming season. With the announcement of veteran Lions center Frank Ragnow hitting the NFL a few months ago, shocking everyone, the drafting of Ratledge seemed to be even more crucial than some thought.
Now, with NFL training camps slowly beginning and most rookies having already reported, Ratledge isn't finding himself on the second or third team like he probably suspected he would be; he is getting first-team reps.
At Georgia, Ratledge didn't play center at all; he exclusively played right tackle, but with a hole in the line, losing Ragnow, the young rookie is showing his versatility. The young offensive lineman played right tackle in high school, so there is some assumption that he has taken practice snaps at center before and should be able to pick up the position pretty well.
Ratledge was taken in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Lions, seemingly meant to add more strength to the line, but now he is stepping into a key role.
Lions rookie Tate Ratledge reportedly took all of the 1st-team reps at Center today, per @nolanbianchi
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With Ratledge already taking first-team snaps at center this early in training camp, it doesn't mean the position is promised, but it gives the impression that this is who the Lions are going to go with. When speaking to the media on Sunday, head coach Dan Campbell explained where his focus will be for training camp.
"My eyes are on the o-line", Campbell said. "I wanna see what that unit's gonna do, and what's gonna come out of that. We need some guys to step up for us."
Ratledge has that very opportunity right here and right now to step up and take that starting position for the Lions. The former Bulldog has been working all offseason since being drafted and is prepared for this amazing opportunity.