National Football League

Joe Lombardi: Travis Swanson 'awesome' at center for Detroit Lions

Published Jun. 11, 2015 2:16 p.m. ET

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The Detroit Lions have a young, imposing presence emerging at center in Travis Swanson.

Swanson, a 2014 third-round pick, has taken over the Lions snapping duties from Dominic Raiola, who is no longer with the team after spending more than a decade as Detroit's starting center. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi is leading Lions fans to expect a smooth transition from Raiola to Swanson.

"Awesome," Lombardi told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press about Swanson's performance to date. "Awesome. He's been great."

Lombardi went into further detail on Swanson's play, praising his football IQ and overall strength.

"He's super smart," Lombardi said, per the Detroit Free Press. "He's strong in the middle. Just everything you want in a center. One of our big emphases this year is to keep a strong pocket in the middle for Matt (Stafford), for the quarterback, and he's got that ability to hold the pocket, and he's going to have a lot of help from some stout guards. Between Manny (Ramirez), Laken (Tomlinson) and Larry, those guys are also strong guys that are going to be able to keep the defense off of Matt's toes."

The Lions have been rebuilding their offensive line for a few years, and now the project is nearly complete. The addition of Swanson was one of the most fundamental aspects of the undertaking, since the ball starts in his hand on every single offensive snap.

(h/t Detroit Free Press)

Photo Credit: Beth Hall/USA TODAY Sports