ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions sacrificed 23 years of NFL experience by choosing not to bring back center Dominic Raiola and left guard Rob Sims.
The offensive line did add an eight-year veteran in guard/center Manny Ramirez, but it's a unit that is clearly being transformed to become younger and more athletic.
In fact, five players who got first-team snaps during Thursday's offseason practice have a combined total of seven NFL seasons.
It starts with left tackle Riley Reiff (three years) and includes left guard Laken Tomlinson (rookie), center Travis Swanson (one year), right guard Larry Warford (two) and right tackle Cornelius Lucas (one).
Ramirez could end up starting at either left guard or center, but Tomlinson and Swanson are both legitimate candidates. LaAdrian Waddle, who is recovering from a knee injury, could be the choice over Luas, but even Waddle has only two years of experience.
For a quarterback, it's a difficult adjustment to not have veterans blocking for him.
The upside is athleticism, the downside is the lack of familiarity, which is such a key part of offensive-line play.
"It's going to be a fun one, but we're going to have some young guys up front," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "Trying to make sure we're all on the same page, trying to do the right thing as much as we possibly can, I think that's going to be a big one for us and for me personally."
Stafford is coming off a season in which he got sacked a career-high 45 times, leading to the overhaul up front.
He's entering his seventh season in the league. Receiver Calvin Johnson will be in his ninth.
"It's on us," Stafford said, referring primarily to himself and Johnson. "We've got new guys in the system. We've got young guys. We have all sorts of new challenges in front of us. It's on us to carry the load and bring them along."
Stafford is trying to initiate some camaraderie. He took the offensive line to a Detroit Tigers' baseball game a couple weeks ago.
He said it's important "to get to know some of these guys."
"Whether they haven't played a lot of football for us or they're just coming out of college, it's important to make sure that we're all pulling for each other," Stafford said.
While Raiola and Sims were a little worn down from all those games, practices and workouts, the youngsters are fresh and energized.
Stafford acknowledges that it's difficult to make accurate assessments of offensive linemen at this time of the year. The practices aren't in full gear, which makes judging a player's physicality next to impossible.
Nevertheless, Stafford seems cautiously optimistic
"They look extremely athletic," he said of the new-look O-line. "Any time you have a bunch of young guys in there, I kind of equate it to young running backs. You watch them run and they just have no regard for their body. They just go out there and they run. They play hard. They play physical. The O-line, I think, is the same way.
"It's fun to watch these guys just move around. The athletic ability that we have up there right now at this point is pretty awesome."
EXTRA POINTS
--- Cornerback Darius Slay didn't take part in Thursday's practice. Both of his hands were wrapped.
"He's got a few bruises that were self-inflicted," coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's out for a couple of days."
Caldwell wouldn't elaborate, other than to say, "Kind of an odd deal."
--- Johnson and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata did not attend the voluntary practice.
Caldwell said neither player's absence was because of an injury.
"This is not mandatory," Caldwell said. "There's going to be guys from time to time, you're going to see a number of guys aren't here. Some situations come up, some personal."
--- With Johnson not available, Stafford got a chance to work with some other receivers that might not always get snaps with the first team.
"Not only for them to get reps with me, but for me to get reps with them, it's important," Stafford said. "We saw last year, Calvin out however many games or not 100 percent in probably half of them. My familiarity with them (other receivers) is growing and will continue to grow with more reps we get."
--- One of the receivers that Stafford has been impressed with is free-agent addition Lance Moore, who is entering his 10th NFL season but coming off a down year in 2014 with Pittsburgh.
"He's not the biggest guy in the world," Stafford said of Moore, who is 5-foot-9, 190 pounds. "He's not the fastest guy in the world. But he seems to get open and creates separation."
--- Stafford also had high praise for cornerback Quandre Diggs, a sixth-round draft pick out of Texas.
"He's a competitor, man," Stafford said. "He does a heck of a job. He made a play the other day in the red zone, wasn't even on the ball.
"I wasn't in the game. I was just watching from afar. Our quarterback wanted to throw it and he just took it away at the last second.
"He's got a good feel in zone. I think he's a feisty competitor. He's going to be around the football trying to make plays on it."
