One of the myriad questions facing the Detroit Lions in the rapidly approaching offseason is solving the center position long-term. One of the potential solutions got a real field test in the Lions’ Christmas Day loss to the Vikings in Minnesota, with young Kingsley Eguakun making his second career start. 

Eguakun had an up-and-down debut in the Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With veteran Graham Glasgow still sidelined due to injury, Eguakun got the nod against an aggressive Vikings front that blitzes more than any other NFL team. 

It was a stern proving ground for the second-year undrafted free agent from Florida. How did Eguakun fare?
That’s the subject of this week’s Lions film breakdown. 

The formula is pretty simple: I watch every play from both the broadcast and All-22 angles. Wins on plays earn a plus, losses earn a minus. Exceptional plays in either direction can earn an extra plus/minus but that’s pretty rare–especially for linemen. Not every play earns a mark. 

Opening drive

Eguakun earned his first mark on Detroit’s second offensive play, the first run of the game. Unfortunately, it’s a minus. Eguakun ran well past his intended mark, the middle linebacker (No. 51, Blake Cashman) closing on the A-gap hole. Eguakun does showcase some quick feet in trying to pull off a recovery block, eventually logging a pancake block as RB Jahmyr Gibbs was tackled after a modest gain.

His first plus came on the next play, one which ended with Jared Goff getting sacked. The Vikings loaded the line with eight defenders, including a LB (No. 55, Eric Wilson) directly over Eguakun in the pivot. Eguakun did a fine job squaring up Wilson and not ceding ground. Unfortunately, the blitz from the left side got home quickly. 

The drive ended with a false start penalty called on Eguakun that is an absolute travesty of a call. The box score says it’s a penalty, but film review clears Eguakun of any wrongdoing and thus, no minus given. 

Plus: 1

Minus: 1 

The botched snap

Detroit’s second drive ended abruptly after two run plays, the first of which resulted in a plus for Eguakun on a nice gap block on No. 97 (Javon Hargrave). On the third snap, Eguakun misfired the under-center exchange with Goff, who didn’t appear ready for the ball. The Vikings quickly recovered the botched snap, which glanced off Goff’s right arm. This is a catastrophic mistake from Eguakun that earns two minuses. 

Finishing out the first half

Eguakun did not rebound well from the major error. In the remaining 20 plays in the first half, the Lions center earned 6 minuses against just one plus. One of the minuses came on the touchdown pass from Goff to Isaac TeSlaa, a throw that Goff couldn’t step into because Eguakun couldn’t sustain his block to his left, getting bested by a simple snatch move. While I didn’t credit him with anything on the play, Eguakun also got away with an egregious hold on another run play. 

The half ended with Eguakun on the hook for a Blake Cashman sack where the young center simply lost the LB inside on a well-designed blitz to create space for Cashman to work. 

First half tally

3 plusses (2 pass, 1 run)

9 minuses (5 pass, 4 run)

Second half

The final two quarters reinforced a trend that started against Pittsburgh for Eguakun: he’s much better when playing against a heads-up defensive tackle than when no one is directly in front of him. He earned his only run blocking plus in the third quarter (on 7 runs) in that circumstance, nicely using an impressive two-hand punch off the snap to open a crease for David Montgomery. 

It was a massive struggle when Eguakun’s blocking mark was a linebacker, specifically Cashman. Eguakun is quick, but he sorely lacks body control to gather himself and engage from a position of power when he’s not heads-up. There were four such instances in the third quarter, and all resulted in a negative for Eguakun. His upright posture and poor deceleration bring to mind the axiom, “play fast but don’t hurry.” Eguakun looks like he’s hurrying far too often. 

As was the case in the first half, Eguakun earned a plus on a pass play in which Goff got sacked. On the play where the ends converged and forced a Goff fumble on the sack, Eguakun won his heads-up rep with technically perfect hands right off the snap. He was the only lineman who didn’t get dominated or confused on that play, unfortunately. 

Perhaps his best play came on an inside screen to Montgomery. Eguakun kept his feet square and opened up a nice running lane, then hustled down the field looking for work. 

The final Lions turnover was also on Eguakun with an errant shotgun snap. Goff probably should have corralled it, but it was well off the mark in a critical situation. 

Second half tally

4 plusses (1 run, 3 pass)

10 minuses (5 run, 5 pass)

Total game tally

7 plusses (2 run, 5 pass)

19 minuses (9 run, 10 pass)

Not an encouraging performance from Eguakun, albeit one with a high degree of difficulty for an inexperienced player flanked by two inexperienced guards.