Detroit Lions sign 1st-round pick Blake Miller, rest of draft class

TRENCH WORK: Work ethic of Blake Miller, Lions OT, makes him 'a sicko'

Miller, 6 feet 7 and 317 pounds, started all 54 games in his Clemson career at right tackle and set a school record for most snaps played from scrimmage with 3,778. He was a two-time first-team All-ACC selection and widely considered one of the best run blockers in the draft.

"He’s big, he’s tough, he’s smart, he’s a finisher. He has unbelievable football character, work ethic. I mean, everything from a culture standpoint, he fits that. That’s the easy part," Lions general manager Brad Holmes said on draft night. "But his ability is the stuff that, I mean, he’s athletic. He’s a good athlete and it’s hard to find guys that can move like that, that are finishers, which that’s what he is."

The Lions spent the offseason targeting help for their offensive line in an effort to get younger and more consistent up front.

They cut veterans Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow in cost-saving moves, added Mays and swing tackle Larry Borom in free agency, and traded for interior lineman Juice Scruggs.

Holmes said Miller checked "a lot of the boxes" the Lions were looking for as a "really high-floor player" with lots of upside who has the ability to be "a good starting tackle already."

"What fires you up is we definitely got younger, and I think that’s going to be big going forward just for our future and just the importance of that position as a whole and that unit," Holmes said. "Look, when you start getting in that cycle of trying to find a younger, talented offensive tackle or you can even throw guard, center, those guys are hard to find. So really I would say ... now these guys can be grown and molded to what we believe. They already have the intangible qualities but we’re really excited about the youth injection. It kind of started last year, and we just continued it."

Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him atdbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him onBluesky,XandInstagramat @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions sign first-round pick Blake Miller