Author: Paula Pasche

ALLEN PARK >> If you are wondering whether Graham Glasgow will start at left guard or center for the Lions this fall, you are not alone.

Glasgow, who played both positions last season, does not know yet where he will line up. The Lions drafted Frank Ragnow in the first round. He was a center at Arkansas but also could move to guard.

“That’s up to Bob (Quinn) and that’s up to the coaches. I’m an interior offensive lineman. I’ll play left guard, I’ll play center, I’ll play whatever they ask me to,’’ Glasgow said at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Five thoughts from Glasgow as the Lions’ offseason work continues:

1. After playing 16 games last season (and 15 his rookie season in 2016), he said it didn’t take his body long to recover. “I’m a younger guy, it doesn’t take me as long probably as if it was T.J. (Lang) who did it. After a couple weeks I was ready to go again. I was ready to get everything going,’’ said the 25-year-old Glasgow. Lang, the veteran right guard, is 30.

2. On new coach Matt Patricia: “He’s very straight forward. His goals are to win, to win every week. That’s something all of us can get behind.” Then Glasgow was asked whether Patricia has a sense of humor, he responded that they might have to soften him up.

3.  At the NFL draft, GM Bob Quinn specifically said he was frustrated by inability to convert on short-yardage situations last season. “I would say it’s right for him to be bothered by that, we were bothered by that. It was frustrating in a lot of ways for us. We were our own harshest critics and I think that is something we in a lot of ways took personally. We tried to get that worked out and I think that’s something we will also improve this year,’’ Glasgow said.

4. Glasgow said he doesn’t know much about first-round pick Frank Ragnow, but has heard he’s worker and expects he will fit in. Glasgow said the biggest transition for an NFL rookie is just how good the guys you line up against every week. “You’re not playing against Michigan State and Ohio State, or in his case Alabama and Auburn one week and playing against Vandy or Rutgers the next week. Every single D-linemen you’re going against is very good. They’re all professionals, everybody is getting paid money. Having consistency from week to week is hard as a young offensive lineman,’’ Glasgow said. “I knew that was something I had to get ironed out when I first got here and a lot of older guys helped me out with that.’’

5. On new offensive line coach Jeff Davidson: “I would say that Jeff seems like he’s a fantastic guy, he’s a very down-to-earth coach and I think he’s somebody that will help our position group get better and improve throughout the year,’’ Glasgow said. “Having somebody with a lot of personal experience can help me and younger guys in the locker get our technique down, a lot o questions he’ll be able to answer.” Davidson has 24 years of coaching experience, 15 of those working with offensive linemen.

ALLEN PARK — While the Lions went into the draft with needs on the defensive line and run game. With their six picks, they have boosted the run game and added just one defensive lineman.

General manager Bob Quinn said it was just a matter of supply and demand.  The best players on the board when they picked just happened to be mostly on offense. He’s visited with a few defensive line vets in recent weeks and may look at signing one or more of them.

“Productive day,” Quinn said after wrapping up the three-day draft.

Here are his thoughts on the three players drafted on Saturday and how he sees them fitting in:

— He traded his third round pick in 2019 to the Patriots for their fourth-round pick on Saturday. With that they drafted defensive end Da’Shawn Hand out of Alabama.

“I thought it was a really good value pick. Big, strong guy, position versatility, can play inside or outside. Good scheme fit for us. Good knowledge of our defensive line coach (Bo Davis) and that helped,” Quinn said. “Knows our technique. Met with him at the Pro Day. Matt and I went down to he Pro Day and met with all of those guys. Had a good meeting with Da’Shawn so felt that was a really good pick for us.”

Position versatility was key.

“We’re not going to have a base 3-4 or a base 4-3,” Quinn said. “He’s a defensive lineman that can play anywhere from 7-technique all the way down to nose depending on the different fronts we’re going to use. That was one of the things we liked about him.”

— With the fifth-round pick the Lions drafted tackle Tyrell Crosby from Oregon.

“Another good value pick, he really stood out on the board well above everyone else at that point. it was a really pretty easy pick when we talked about it,” Quinn said. “We had him graded a lot higher than we took him. Thought the value was too good to pass up.”

Crosby played left tackle in college but has practiced at other spots.

“We see him as a guy at multiple positions along our front. Had him in for visit it was a good day, he brings a lot to the table,” Quinn said of Crosby.

— In the seventh round, fullback Nick Bawden from San Diego State got the call from the Lions who did not have a fullback on the roster last season.

“Just some conversations we’ve had in the offseason since Matt (Patricia) has got here with some new staff members. It’s something we want to add to the mix to kind of give our offense more of a physical presence,” Quinn said. “It’s a seventh-round pick, it is what it is. He’s a guy we liked and was a good value at that pick.”

In the first round the Lions drafted interior offensive lineman Frank Ragnow. Running back Kerryon Johnson was the second-round pick and safety Tracy Walker was the third-round choice.

ALLEN PARK — In yet another move to bolster their run game, the Lions drafted fullback Nick Bawden in the seventh-round on Saturday.

The 6-3, 245-pound back out of San Diego State, had 15 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in 2017. He had zero carries.

Bawden cleared the way last two years for Donnel Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny, who both dominated the NCAA rushing leader charts.

The Lions’ run game in 2017 was the NFL’s worst. In three days of the draft, they drafted two offensive linemen (Frank Ragnow and Tyrell Crosby), a running back (Kerryon Johnson) and now a fullback.

Bawden said he first talked with Bob Quinn at the Senior Bowl along with running back coach David Walker.

“They want to get back to running the ball and be really successful. So we’re just going to do whatever we can to get it done,” Bawden said. “I’m so glad they took me. My pride and joy is my run blocking. I’m going to do absolutely everything I can to get it done and everything they need me to do — whether it’s playing fullback, H-back, tight end kind of role. I’m going to do everything  they need me to do.”

The Lions didn’t use a fullback last season.

(Photo courtesy of San Diego State)

Bawden started at San Diego State in 2014 as the backup quarterback,  stepping in to start two games for the injured starter. He was moved to fullback prior to the 2015 season.

“It was definitely something I wasn’t open to at first. I had no idea that I had it in me to be able to play fullback. I knew how hard the position was, I knew how tough you had to be,” Bawden said on a conference call. “At first I didn’t really didn’t believe I could do it but I wanted to stay at San Diego, I loved our coaches, I loved everything we were going for. I was willing to give it a chance, it definitely gave me an opportunity to be where I am today talking to you as a Detroit Lion which I’m so excited about.”

He had to bulk up to make the move. He learned to cook his own meals. Since he started lifting weights in seventh grade.

“It was incredibly hard at first. I’ve loved lifting from an early age, I started lifting when I was in seventh grade I wanted to be the strongest QB in the league I really took pride in my training. It wasn’t too hard of a transition from there but I definitely had to gain some weight. I was about 220 pounds as a quarterback, i had to get heavier. I gained 10 pounds a year through my junior and senior year.

He was up to 250 for his senior year. “I started cooking all my own meals,” Bawden said with some pride. Although he’d like to take cooking lessons to improve.

NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein’s overview for Bawden: “Quarterback turned fullback who has bought into the physicality of the fullback position and has the mangled nose to prove it. Bawden has good size and is a competent pass-catcher. The market for old-school fullbacks has shrunk, but he has the ability to find a roster home as a contributing lead blocker and pass catcher on play-action.”

Other Lions’ draft picks on Saturday were DE Da’Shawn Hand in the fourth round and Crosby in the fifth round.