It’s back to the trenches for today’s Detroit Lions draft prospect of the day.
The daily prospect focus is on players who should hold some appeal to the Lions in the draft, with a focus on the more likely positions the team will be targeting. If you’re looking for quarterbacks or upper-echelon running backs, you’re probably not going to find those here. Outside cornerbacks, defensive linemen, interior offensive linemen, some wide receivers and offensive tackles figure to appear along the path to April’s draft. Not all of the players will be top-100 prospects, either.
Today’s prospect is a throwback type of interior offensive lineman with some intriguing upside.
Christian Mahogany, OG, Boston College
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 314 pounds (measured the same at Shrine Bowl and Scouting Combine)
Mahogany spent three years as a starter at Boston College, with over 10 starts at both left guard and right guard. He initially redshirted as a three-star recruit from New Jersey, starting right away at left guard in his redshirt freshman season. Mahogany moved to the right side the next year and became one of the best blockers in the country. He missed the 2022 season with a knee injury, returning to the Eagles and their varied offensive concepts in 2023, when he also served as a team captain.
Mahogany is 23 years old.
What I like
- Exudes brute power throughout his big frame
- Nasty initial punch that can jolt and stand up powerful rushers
- Excellent anchor strength in pass protection
- Finishes his blocks and looks for work to unleash more violence
- Impressive short-area footwork to slide one step and quickly reset
- Acts as a snowplow when pulling in the run game
- Recorded the lowest blown pass block rate of any prospect in 2023 per SIS
- Showed improvement in his hand placement and balance over the course of his career
What worries me going into the NFL
- Poor balance and pass protection range beyond one step in any direction
- Can get overaggressive and overshoot his assignment
- Lacks quickness in his feet and knees to effectively pick up stunts and second-level rushers that don’t try to bull him
- Gets upright in space at times
- Undersized DTs can leverage off and around him if he doesn’t win with his initial punch
- Powerful but slow afoot and straight-linish as a run blocker in space
- Torn ACL in 2022, though that’s his only injury of note
Best game I watched: Pittsburgh
Worst game I watched: Louisville
Overall
Mahogany is a guard whose game would have fit nicely back in the 1970s and 80s with his power-based, aggressive style. He’s wide, powerful and plays angry, capable of starting at either OG spot but projecting better on the right side. Mahogany’s lack of foot speed or twitchy movement skills makes him a better fit for a gap-based scheme like the one the Lions run. There will always be concerns about his ability to handle quickness on the interior, but Mahogany’s consistent anchor in pass pro and dominating power in the run game should hold considerable appeal for the Lions. He projects as a 3rd/4th round pick, but Mahogany is a top-50 overall talent on my board.
