The Lions are giving Giovanni Manu a chance to show he can do something at a totally different position
Detroit Lions are experimenting with Giovanni Manu. The former trade-up pick is now getting looks at a completely different position, opening a potential path to sticking on the roster as competition tightens.
The Detroit Lions don’t make a whole lot of mistakes when it comes to the NFL Draft. They’ve drafted more All-Pro players since 2021 than anyone and they’ve managed to keep the large majority of their draft picks during this time on the roster and in important roles.
Then there’s Giovanni Manu. The Lions traded up to get him in the 2024 NFL Draft. Revisionist history might tell you that the Lions vastly overdrafted him, but at the time, the hype was real. Almost every single team had him in for a visit there was some belief that had the Lions not moved up, they weren’t getting him.
After two seasons, it still feels like he’s two seasons away from being to the point where the Lions might be able to get something out of him and it also feels like this summer is his last chance. But will he do it at tackle?
The Lions have been trying Manu at guard this summer
“That’s some of what this is, let’s experiment a little bit. We’ve had a couple of injuries, or the bugs that – maybe a guy that normally would play guard we don’t [have], so let’s put him in there, it’s actually kind of worked out good and just see what he looks like at guard.” Campbell said. “So he’s still getting tackle reps, we’re seeing – we’re trying to give him the best opportunity to showcase what he has and who knows? Maybe he is better at guard, we still think tackle but if he can prove something then that’s good so we’ll see, he’s been here, he’s been working and we won’t know until camp.”
Before he was drafted, Manu told media that the Lions told him that they were thinking of him at guard. So it tracks with what their original thought process for him was. If he nail it down, he would make for one mountain of a guard.
The problem Manu runs into is that the competition at guard is really stiff right now. Christian Mahogany, Juice Scruggs, Miles Frazier, Ben Bartch, and Michael Niese are all fighting for spots. They have the benefit of the fact that they’ve played guard before. All of them have done it in the NFL as well. We’ll see what happens at camp, but maybe this is Manu’s chance to land a roster spot in 2026.
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