For the earlier part of February, we’ll be looking at some of the Lions free agents who’s potential of coming back to Detroit seems up in the air right now. We’ll be doing these as pros and cons pieces. So far we’ve covered Jonah Jackson, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley and Josh Reynolds. Today we cover Graham Glasgow.
Pros
Glasgow had a big career resurgence in Detroit this year. After being let go by the Broncos after the worst year of his career, Glasgow came into Detroit and took over the right guard spot from the injured Halapoulivaati Vaitai and hit the ground running.
Glasgow was a major part of the Lions run game in 2023. He had the highest PFF run blocking grade of his career with an elite 82.1 grade. That grade was also the fifth best grade in the NFL among guards.
Glasgow also has the ability to slide over and play left guard and center in a pinch and the Lions utilized that ability multiple times in 2023.
Glasgow shouldn’t cost a whole lot of money either. Which is a big plus for a team that has a chance to make some waves this offseason and needs to retain some other free agents and work up some extensions.
Cons
While the run blocking was very good, the pass blocking was very bad. Glasgow allowed 39 pressures in 2023. That’s the sixth most among all guards in the league. He’s also tied for fifth for the most hurries allowed by a guard with 34. Then there’s seven quarterback hits, that is tied for fifth most.
Glasgow also had the worst pass block grade of his career with a 56.2 grade. This is a problem that could hurt the Lions in the future if he’s not able to get back to the pass blocking he has shown in the past.
The other problem is that he will be turning 32 in July. That’s not super old, but it’s old enough to make you think that this won’t be a long term thing.
My Ruling
Don’t upset the apple cart. The Lions should absolutely be looking to bring Glasgow back. But they should also be looking towards a potential future at the position as well. While Glasgow struggled in the pass game, it seems to be more of an anomaly in his career than it is something that’s happened over and over again. There’s reason to believe he can fix this.