Juice Scruggs or Cade Mays? The Lions suddenly have a fascinating decision to make at center and Dan Campbell admits the Lions aren’t sure what to do
Mays is ready to return after Detroit gave him a three-year, $25 million deal to start at center. The problem? Scruggs has played so well in his place that Dan Campbell openly admits the Lions aren’t sure what to do.
It’s actually happening. The Detroit Lions have a real, honest-to-goodness controversy at center, and it involves Juice Scruggs, Cade Mays, and a whole lot of uncertainty from Dan Campbell.
Scruggs has been playing out of his mind. Through five games, he is Pro Football Focus’ No. 1-graded center in the NFL. Nobody saw that coming. Meanwhile, Mays is coming back from injured reserve, and the Lions very clearly don’t know what to do with both of them.
Scruggs was supposed to be the throw-in
When Detroit traded David Montgomery to the Houston Texans for a fourth-round pick and Scruggs, that pick was what everyone got excited about. Scruggs felt like an afterthought.
To be honest, it reminds me of the Matthew Stafford trade. When the Lions made that deal, everyone focused on the draft picks. Oh, and they also got Jared Goff. Well, Goff is putting up MVP-type numbers right now, and Scruggs is playing unbelievable football of his own.
The difference between the two situations is the money. The Lions spent big on a center this offseason, signing Mays to a three-year, $25 million deal. He was supposed to be the starter. He looked good in camp, and he looked ready for the job. Then he suffered a wrist injury and landed on IR.
Now he’s back. Campbell said he expects Mays to play on Sunday. However, how that playing time gets split is anyone’s guess.
Here’s what Campbell said in his Monday press conference:
“We’re still back and forth on what we do with him. Do we work he and Juice in and out? At the center position, that’s where it’s a little different than a guard. That’s somebody that’s constantly touching the football,” Campbell said. “That’s the hard thing. Juice is playing pretty good football for us right now. He’s done a good job. He’s gotten better every week. And Juice is a freaking team guy. Doesn’t mean that if it comes to that, he doesn’t like that, because there’s definitely an argument to keep him rolling because he’s playing good football. But he’s a team guy. He’s all in. He’ll do whatever we ask him to do. And the good news is, one way or another, we get Cade work back in. With Juice playing pretty good, Mahogany’s had a couple of good weeks. Now we’ve got some guys. We’ve got a pretty good crew there to go with and get better as the season goes throughout.”
Why mess with it?
So what do you do now? This is a situation the Lions haven’t really been in before. It happens with quarterbacks all the time, though.
Drew Bledsoe goes down, and suddenly Tom Brady is really good. Alex Smith goes down, and Colin Kaepernick takes off. Then the regular starter comes back, and the team essentially tells him, “We love you, but we’re sticking with this guy.”
That’s where I land here. I know Detroit paid a lot of money for Mays. Still, you wound up with the best center in football right now. You can’t take him out.
Some people have floated the idea of moving Scruggs to guard. But why would you do that? Tate Ratledge is playing well. Christian Mahogany is the third-highest-graded guard in the league with an 86.4 PFF grade, and he’s playing the best football of his career. You can’t move him around either.
Campbell hinted at a rotation. Maybe Mays starts and Scruggs comes in on heavier sets, or something along those lines. I don’t know what the Lions will do.
If I’m Detroit, though, I’m not moving off the hot hand. That’s how it works in every sport.
A logjam that might end in a trade
On the other hand, this creates a weird logjam. Scruggs is a free agent after this season. If he keeps playing like this, the Lions have to start thinking about a new contract for him. Then where does that leave Mays?
I have a hard time believing one of these guys doesn’t get traded eventually. Maybe it happens at the trade deadline. Maybe it happens after the season.
Unless Mays comes back and is 10 times better, I don’t see how you replace the top-graded center in the league.
The good thing is that this is a great problem to have. Usually, the issue is not having anyone who can play a position. Now, Detroit has too many guys who can play it well.
Campbell also said Mays and Brian Branch are both expected to play, and the Lions will push them hard at practice this week. So we’ll see how much Mays actually plays on Sunday.
This is one of the most fascinating storylines Detroit has had in a long time, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
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