The Lions face their most critical offseason roster challenge: potential turnover at three offensive line positions. With Taylor Decker's future uncertain, Graham Glasgow departed, and depth evaporating after Skipper's retirement, we sift through the O-line puzzle that will define Brad Holmes' 2025 strategy. Should the Lions draft a right tackle and move Penei Sewell? Can Mahogany or Ratledge handle center duties? What's the realistic Week 1 starting five given cap constraints and draft position?

Plus: Mike Kafka joins the coaching staff after being a part of developing Patrick Mahomes - what does the former Giants OC bring to Jared Goff and Detroit's offense? And the Grey Manes induct Silver Rush legend Doug English to the Hall of the Underrated, exploring why the 4-time Pro Bowler who holds the NFL record for career safeties remains criminally overlooked in Lions history.

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Lions Grey Manes is produced by Chris Stone at https://CastAhead.net

[0:00] On today's Lions Gray Manes, we've got a new bonus offensive mind on staff. Plus, we try to piece together the puzzle that is the Lions offensive line in the offseason, as well as a haul of the underrated induction for a player who gave a whole new meaning to the phrase safety dance. Forward down the field. Yeah, big time. This is Lions Gray Mainz. It's Tuesday, 7 p.m. Eastern, and it's time for us to go live and talk with you, the Detroit Lions fans. I'm joined on the screen from my confidants, my co-pilots, my co-hosts and my friends. Please welcome Dan Keener and Dr. Brent Kreider. Fellas, how are we doing? And it's the off season. We're watching other teams beat the crap out of each other. And we, you know, I don't know. How do we feel about the lions off season thus far? Hot takes. Brent sweater says it all.

[1:06] For those just listening with your ear balls, it says red wings, Brent. This is the first time you've not had lion stuff on. Did you, did you not do your laundry this week? I see red wings. Well, I counted my lion shirts. I have 183 lion shirts, so I didn't run out of lion shirts. That's for sure. But it's cold here in Alabama. And I know it's really cold up in Michigan. Been watching the negative 11, negative 7. Dan, I hope you and your family are keeping warm in Ohio. It's doing all right. Mike up in Grayling. Mike in the back office here. Mike, thanks for all you do on the research. We really, really appreciate you, brother.

[1:47] And so... Well, you don't care about me, Brett? You don't care about what's going on in Atlanta? Come on, man. Put on the sweatshirt. Why not the Red Wing sweatshirt? Exactly.

[1:58] Apparently the internet down there doesn't like as cold either. Well, you live down here with me. He's all frozen. Yeah, Brent, you're frozen a little bit, but we're going to circle back with you, Brent, because we've got some... You're down here with me. We've got some hot, some breaking news that we want to talk about for Lions fans, and it has to do with the coaching staff. This is a bit of a surprise, but we're going to talk really quickly because Mike Kafka, who interviewed for the Lions offensive coordinator position, we talked about this last week, Drew Petsing was announced as our offensive coordinator, but the lions have added Mike Kafka to the offensive staff. The NFL network called it a high ranking role. So we'll know maybe specifically what that is. Um, but Kafka is, it has widely known, uh, across the NFL is like, uh, sort of, I mean, he's had a really crazy kind of coaching trajectory. I mean, he's only 38. He was a Northwestern quarterback. He was five years on staff with Andy Reed with the chiefs. And he was a QC coach. He was a QB coach. He was a passing game coordinator. So he, you know, he's a part of what, you know, Patrick Mahomes and, and what was happening there. And then of course he was with the giants as offensive coordinator under day ball and lions fans. If you remember when we played the giants.

[3:22] Dayball was fired, and Kafka actually was the offensive, was actually head coach. Interim. Yeah, interim head coach for the Giants in some crazy offensive plays during that game, including a touchdown pass to Jameis Winston, which made my man Derek Barnes look a little silly. But in any event, Kafka interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in the cycle. He interviewed for the Titans. He interviewed for OC positions with the Bucs, with the Eagles. So the Lions really have kind of snagged someone, I think, kind of like a bonus offensive coordinator here. So Brent, I'm going to start with you. It hasn't been announced yet, but this high ranking suggests that it's more than just a position coach. What do you make of this hire? Given that Petsing already has the OC title, What role do you think makes sense for Kafka in this structure?

[4:24] You know, it's an interesting design. I'm not sure I've ever seen this type of a coaching structure. I don't know if you or Dan or Mike have, but having multiple guys who we consider to be talented offensive coordinators.

[4:44] Um coming in is is really i think an over overreaction to how poorly things went last year the lions um owner said sheila said hey we're gonna we're gonna fix these things and boy are they um and you know giving dan campbell the opportunity to bring in two talented offensive play callers it's it's uh it's what i would say is a smorgasbord of opportunities and so um And the best thing that can happen is that they make him a offensive coordinator slash co-offensive coordinator slash head coach. I think we'll see something, assistant head coach, something like that when you say it's going to be a senior ranking person. I know we have an assistant head coach right now. But look, this is Super Bowl or bust. You see the Lions going here. We didn't get Mike McDaniel he wanted to go to sunny Southern California fair riddance to him and so the good news for the Lions is we've got two very talented guys to come in and design plays it appears that Kafka is not going to be the play caller because the Lions specifically announced that.

[6:04] The Arizona coach would be coming in and calling the plays thank you And so the very important thing for the Lions is.

[6:14] Get some diversity in there. Be able to take advantage of the talent that we have. I'm looking forward to later in the show because one of the things that we teed up related to this is the offensive line. Right, right. So, Dan, over to you to give your thoughts. Yeah, I wanted to ask you this specifically, Dan. Do you see this as... Because I think we immediately think, okay, we got two great, almost like an offensive brain trust, right? We, you know, we didn't get Mike McDaniel, right? But we got like a, like an up and comer, like two up and comers, right? Do you think it's like an offensive brain trust approach or could this be maybe too many cooks in the kitchen? I think this is a ying to a yang, right? You have a guy in Petsing who is a very accomplished run game coach, and you have a guy in Kafka who is a very accomplished passing game coach. So together, the two of them, it's the Wonder Twins, right? You bring them in and you let them work together and collaborate. And between the two of them, they put together and utilize Campbell's structure and what he likes to do, and they can create some, hopefully out of this world, based off those little spaceships going through Brent's screen, some out-of-this-world play calling and plays that we're going to see. So I think it's a great complimentary hire.

[7:43] There's a bunch of other news around our coaching staff that I think directly relates to this. We've got two guys in staff, and David Shaw, who's currently our passing coordinator and Scotty Montgomery, who Brent referenced as the assistant head coach. And he's also the wide receivers coach, I believe this year or last year. Um, and we also have an open tight end coach position. So the only thing that's a senior offensive position is that assistant head coach title. If you're not the OC. So, and obviously Kafka, he has interim experience, you know, now with, um.

[8:20] With the giants. So that might be something they, they toss his way, but you know, I think Brent, you brought it up earlier in the week, just in our internal slack, you know, you've got Montgomery, he's interviewing for the Ravens OC position. I can't, honestly, I can't see him getting it. Um, the only time he was an OC before this was that Maryland under Loxley and they were atrocious. Uh, but Hey, you know, uh, you know, the mentor was in Baltimore at the time. So maybe he saw something and liked it. You know, there were only a few miles down the road. Right. But I think the bigger one here is that I have, I am, I have no, you know, no proof of this, but the tea leaves to me seem to be showing that David Shaw is going to go back and join Jim Harbaugh at Los Angeles chargers. His kid today just committed to Stanford. I mean, I know it's three hours up the road and, you know, San Francisco area. Right. But you know, Shaw is, is the passing game coordinator. He was passed over by the Lions for the OC position, which went to first to Petsing, and now they're bringing in Kafka on top of that. So if I'm Shaw, I'm thinking, well, hell, I'm never going to get promoted internally.

[9:32] His buddy, he worked for Harbaugh twice, once at San Diego, followed him to Stanford, and then ultimately replaced him at Stanford when Harbaugh went to San Francisco. So there's a huge, you know, a very long line of relationship there. So I, if, if someone's leaving, I am suspect it'll be Shaw and we're going to see, probably see Campbell retool the offensive staff.

[9:58] And then on top of that, Our old buddy Tanner Engstrom got canned by the Jets after one year of their office coordinator position today. So could that be a reunion either here or could, you know, our buddy Benedict over in Chicago decide he wants to snap him up, you know? He might be better suited to be in that structure where he's been the last several years, you know, versus being on his own under Glenn, which is an absolute abysmal cast to work with, you know, and, and, and not having that offensive mentorship around him that he had with Johnson and Campbell and some of these other guys over the years. Yeah, so I remember when Angstrom went over to the Jets and everybody was like, oh God, there goes our offensive coordinator, right? Aaron Glenn took him to the Jets. But to be fair, the quarterbacks that.