• Lions center Frank Ragnow calls it a day: The longtime Lions center announced his retirement Monday, citing a need to prioritize his long-term health and his family’s future.

• One of the best centers of the PFF era: Ragnow’s 91.7 career grade at center ranks seventh among the 165 players to log at least 1,000 snaps at the position since 2006, just one spot behind Colts legend Jeff Saturday.

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Frank Ragnow, the anchor of the Detroit Lions‘ offensive line and one of the NFL’s most consistent interior players, is walking away after seven seasons.

The longtime Lions center announced his retirement Monday, citing a need to prioritize his long-term health and his family’s future. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport first reported the news.

Ragnow, 29, exits the game as a four-time Pro Bowler and a three-time second-team All-Pro.

Drafted 20th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, he began his career at left guard before taking over at center full-time in 2019, where he quickly established himself as one of the most reliable interior offensive linemen in football.

Ragnow played 6,617 snaps over his career and graded above 74.0 in six of his seven seasons, his only sub-70.0 mark coming as a rookie.

His 2023 campaign was his most complete, as he finished with a position-best 88.8 overall grade and anchored a Detroit ground game that ranked top-three in yards per rush (4.6) and expected points added (EPA) per play (0.043).

While he remained a steady pass-blocker throughout his career, never earning lower than a 65.8 grade in that facet after 2018, he built his reputation on elite run-blocking. Ragnow posted a run-blocking grade above 78.0 in every season outside his rookie year, including a 91.3 mark in 2023 that led all centers.

Ragnow’s value in the run game extended far beyond raw grade. He was a rare scheme-agnostic run-blocker, excelling across the board regardless of concept. On 713 outside zone snaps, he earned a perfect 99.9 run-blocking grade. He posted a 93.6 grade on 435 man-blocking snaps and an 81.4 mark on 583 inside zone plays, showcasing elite movement skills, leverage and power in any structure.

Over his career, he earned a 97th-percentile run-blocking grade on gap runs and ranked in the 94th percentile on zone concepts.

His ability to create movement at the point of attack while consistently executing at the second level made him one of the most complete centers of the PFF era.

Ragnow earned a negative grade on just 9.66% of his run-blocking snaps, the eighth-best rate among the 165 centers with at least 1,000 total snaps since 2006. His 17.55% positive grade rate ranked fifth among that same group.

Beyond his dominance in the run game, Ragnow was a complete player, rarely out of position and rarely beaten. Since entering the league in 2018, he ranks above the 80th percentile in PFF’s stable offensive line metrics. He ranked in the 83rd percentile in overall pass-blocking grade, 82nd in pass-blocking grade on true pass sets and 85th on five- and seven-step dropbacks, scenarios that demand longer and more isolated protection from interior linemen.

His pass-blocking numbers reinforce that consistency. After allowing four sacks as a rookie while playing guard, Ragnow never surrendered more than two sacks in any season thereafter. As a center, he allowed just 88 total pressures and six sacks over 3,174 pass-blocking snaps, and his average of 529 pass-blocking snaps per sack allowed ranks 11th among the 119 centers with at least 1,000 pass-blocking snaps since 2006.

His best pass-blocking season came in 2020, when he earned a career-high 74.8 PFF grade in the facet while giving up only one hit and eight hurries across 609 pass-blocking snaps.

Because of that all-around skill set and almost unparalleled performance in the run game, Ragnow firmly established himself as one of the most valuable centers in football. From 2019 to 2024, he ranked third among centers in PFF’s wins above replacement (WAR) metric, generating 1.76 wins over that span, trailing only Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey (2.05) and Eagles great Jason Kelce (1.92).

He ranked top-three at the position in WAR in three of his six seasons as a center and led all centers in the metric during his career-best 2023 campaign.

That same year, Ragnow earned a place on the PFF All-Pro first team and made one of the three appearances he made on the annual PFF101 list recognizing the best players in football regardless of position (2020, 2023, 2024). He was also named to the PFF second-team All-Pro roster in both 2020 and 2024.

Ragnow will retire as one of the best centers of the PFF era. His 91.7 career grade at center ranks seventh among the 165 players to log at least 1,000 snaps at the position since 2006, just one spot behind Colts legend Jeff Saturday. He combined elite run-blocking dominance, consistent pass protection and a rare ability to thrive in every scheme, leaving behind a body of work few interior linemen can match.

With Ragnow stepping away, Detroit’s offensive line enters a new phase. The team has begun cross-training rookie Tate Ratledge at center during OTAs. While the second-round pick didn’t log an in-game snap at the position during his five years at Georgia, he confirmed he had practiced there before, and his skill set projects favorably to the pivot.

Drafted 57th overall in 2025, Ratledge arrives in Detroit as a three-year starter with the kind of physicality and mobility the team covets up front. He allowed just two sacks over his final three college seasons and surrendered only seven total pressures as a senior. His 77.3 pass-blocking grade last year ranked above the 70th percentile nationally, and he also graded above 70.0 on zone runs, gap runs and true pass sets, mirroring a similar scheme-agnostic profile that made Ragnow so valuable.

Detroit’s offensive identity has long been tied to its dominance in the trenches, and replacing a player of Ragnow’s caliber won’t be easy. The Lions are at their best when their offensive line protects quarterback Jared Goff, who has earned a 92.1 PFF passing grade when kept clean since joining Detroit, but that number drops to 43.8 under pressure. Over that same span, Goff has recorded 45 turnover-worthy plays compared to just 19 big-time throws when under duress.

With Ragnow retiring and veteran guard Kevin Zeitler also gone, the Lions enter 2025 with two new offensive coordinators and one of the league’s toughest projected schedules, featuring the AFC North, NFC East and a brutal in-division slate that includes Green Bay, Minnesota and Chicago, plus Kansas City and Tampa Bay.

Their win total currently sits at 10.5, but PFF betting analyst Mason Cameron recommends taking the under. The roster remains strong, but with questions across the coaching staff and interior offensive line, Cameron sees Green Bay as the better value to win the division.