Draft 2026: OG/C - Vega Ioane, Chase Bisontis, Jager Burton, Gennings Dunker
Could the Lions target interior offensive line early in the draft?
The loss of Frank Ragnow to retirement (x2) last season and the resulting shaky interior line play may have been the #1 cause for the Detroit Lions disappointing 9-8 record.
Here are 4 interior offensive line players that range in projection from 1st round to late rounds. Any of them could help get the Lions offensive line back on track.
The 2nd round and later seem like the ideal time to pick up IOL from a positional value perspective, but Ragnow was the 20th overall pick once upon a time, and there are no regrets there.
Concern level ranges from 0 (no concern) to 5 (might be worth the risk if the reward is high) to 10 (take him off your board, Brad).
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information and are unverified - subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Quick Summary
Olaivavega Ioane, OG (age?): clean, pending age - 1/10 concern
Chase Bisontis, OG (22): possible high ankle - 1/10 concern
Jager Burton, C (24): leg, age - 3/10 concern
Gennings Dunker, OG (23): sesamoid surgery, ankle surgery, shoulder surgery, knee - 7/10 concern
Olaivavega “Vega” Ioane, OG (unknown age) - Penn State
Projected round 1. #11 on Daniel Jeremiah board Jan 27. Mocked to Lions in 1st round by Mel Kiper on Jan 21.
Concern level 1/10 (pending age)
2025: 11/13 games. Missed 1 mid-season game with unknown injury. Opted out of bowl game.
2024: 16/16 games
2023: 13/13 games
2022: 4 games
Age is unknown but suspected to be around 23. He missed a game in his final season but otherwise has been very reliable. His 1st-round projection might be too rich for the Lion’s blood with the other higher-value positional needs at OT and EDGE.
Chase Bisontis, OG (22) - Texas A&M
Projected round 2. #49 on Daniel Jeremiah board Jan 27.
Concern level 1/10
2025: 13/13 games
2024: 10/13 games. Missed 3 games after left lower leg rolled up on and was seen wearing walking boot.
2023: 13/13 games
Bisontis is young and healthy. His injury in 2024 could be a mild high ankle sprain based on circumstantial evidence - rolled up on with subsequent boot frequently is a high ankle. A foot injury would be more concerning but that’s much less likely. A possible ankle would be of minimal concern since he played a full season afterwards.
Picking up a low-risk, instant-starter in the 2nd round would be fantastic.
Jager Burton, C (24) - Kentucky
Projected round 5-7. Mocked to Lions in 6th round by Jeff Risdon.
Concern level 3/10
2025: 12/12 games
2024: 10/12 games. Missed 2 games with leg injury.
2023: 12/13 games. Missed 1 game with unspecified injury.
2022: 13/13 games
2021: 4 games
Could the Jager “Meister” solve the Lions center quandary in the late rounds? (I have no idea… if that’s his actual nickname.)
Burton has generally been reliable but has missed games in 2 of the past 3 seasons. Reassuringly, he played all games in 2025.
His age is also a concern, but for a late-round pick, the extra experience can be viewed as a positive.
Gennings Dunker, OG (23) - Iowa
Projected round 2.
Concern level 7/10
2025: 13/13 games. Ankle surgery for “cartilage cleanup” during spring.
2024: 11/13 games. Missed 2 games with knee injury but returned for bowl.
2023: 13/14 games. Shoulder surgery after season.
2022: 10/13 games
2021: Redshirted presumably due to sesamoid injury. Another unspecified injury caused missed spring practice in 2022.
High school: Fractured sesamoid bone with surgery. “I’ve had a couple of surgeries since being here.”
Dunker appears to have been crafted in an AI lab to play OG for the Lions…
Sources tell me he is in fact a real human - one who has accumulated injuries and surgeries to almost every body part (not his mullet though, which is medically clean). It’s a good sign that he has been mostly reliable the past 3 seasons, but there is concern for too many residuals.
His ankle cartilage damage is a long-term concern. But the most concerning long-term issue might be his sesamoid bone surgery in high school. It could be the same kind of big toe surgery that Taylor Decker had - where 1 of the 2 sesamoid bones in his toe was removed. This kind of sesamoid issue would present ongoing, long-term durability concerns because any injury to the remaining sesamoid could be a career ender.
For more on why the big toe sesamoids are so important, see my video podcast…
Taylor Decker toe sesamoidectomy surgery analysis from 2024
While Taylor Decker’s 2 years of shoulder issues may be the primary reason for considering retirement, it’s likely a toe injury that required surgery after the 2023 season will influence his decision as well.