After watching their offensive line struggle badly in 2017, the Detroit Lions took a major step towards fixing it with their first-round pick Thursday.
The Lions took Arkansas center Frank Ragnow with the 20th pick of the first round.
Ragnow should start this fall on a line that returns four of its starters. His addition means Graham Glasgow, who's played both center and left guard the last two seasons, likely will stay at left guard.
A three-year starter and team captain, Ragnow replaces Travis Swanson, a third-round pick out of Arkansas in 2014 who signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets this offseason.
The Lions ranked last in the NFL in rushing last season and started 11 different combinations on an injury-riddled line.
Ragnow is the second offensive lineman general manager Bob Quinn has taken in the first round in his three drafts as general manager. The Lions used the 16th pick of the 2016 draft on Taylor Decker, their starting left tackle.
The team also returns Glasgow, the only player to play every offensive snap last season, right guard T.J. Lang and right tackle Rick Wagner.
The Lions signed offensive linemen Kenny Wiggins and Wesley Johnson as free agents this offseason, but both players now project as backups.
Ragnow, 6 feet 5 and 312 pounds, adds size and power to the Lions' offensive line and
He was the fourth offensive lineman drafted, after guard Notre Dame's Quenton Nelson (sixth) and Mike McGlinchey (nine), and UCLA's Kolton Miller (15th).
Four quarterbacks went in the first 10 picks, though not quite in the order most expected.
After being linked to Sam Darnold for much of the pre-draft process, the Cleveland Browns started their latest rebuild by taking Heisman Trophy-winning Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield first overall.
The New York Giants followed at No. 2 with the best player on many team's draft boards, Penn State running back Saquan Barkley, and the Jets, a month after trading up to No. 3, stumbled into Darnold.
The Browns threw another curveball at pick No. 4, opting for Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward over defensive end Bradley Chubb, who went fifth to the Denver Broncos. After the Indianapolis Colts took the draft's consensus best lineman, Notre Dame's Nelson, the Buffalo Bills traded up for rocket-armed Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.
Georgia's Roquan Smith (to the Chicago Bears) and Nelson's former teammate, McGlinchey (to the San Francisco 49ers), went eight and nine, before the Arizona Cardinals moved up for the last of the Big Four quarterbacks, UCLA's Josh Rosen.
The Lions have all four rookie quarterbacks on their schedule this year. They open the season on Monday Night Football against Darnold and Jets, visit Rosen and the Cardinals in Week 14 and Allen and the Bills a week later.
In the preseason, the Lions host Mayfield and the Browns.
Now that they've filled their need on the offensive line, the Lions can focus on holes on the defensive line, at safety, running back and perhaps tight end on Day 2.
