How Blake Miller will impact the Detroit Lions

Fit with the Lions

The Lions have prioritized rebuilding the offensive line with youth and physicality, and the addition of Blake Miller should be the final part of the rebuilt engine. Miller has an ideal combination of height (6-foot-7), length (34.25-inch arm length), strength (32 reps on bench press), and athleticism (RAS: 9.9), and was considered the most NFL-ready tackle in this draft class.

Here’s an excerpt from my mock draft write-up:

“Miller uses his wrestling background to control defenders at the point of attack, leveraging his body to anchor against the pass rush and drive-block in the run game. However, it’s his mental makeup that makes him the perfect fit in Detroit. Not only does he bring a finisher’s mentality to the field, but he also almost never misses an opportunity to play with his teammates. In his four years at Clemson, he missed only one practice, due to a broken wrist, and he was back on the practice field in a cast the next day.”

From a character standpoint, he is as close to a perfect fit as there is in this draft class. A former captain at Clemson, Miller is considered a film junkie who is apt at translating what he’s learned to on-field production. With his incredible work ethic, he has shown that he is unwilling to cheat his teammates or himself and is routinely credited with possessing an elite commitment to the team.

Quote from NFL scout (via Dane Brugler’s The Beast):

“I think he missed one practice in four years. The thought of letting down his coaches and teammates kills him.”

From Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ press conference following the selection of Miller:

“He just checks a lot of boxes. Really high floor player. He’s big, he’s tough, he’s smart, he’s a finisher, he has unbelievable football character, work ethic. Everything from a culture standpoint, he fits. But that’s the easy part. His ability—he’s athletic, he’s a good athlete and it’s hard to find guys that move like that and are finishers, and that’s what he is.”

“When you think about Blake Miller, you sleep easy.”

From Blake Miller’s interview with the Lions after being selected:

“For me, I really appreciate that it’s a very technical position. I’m a person who, I really want to make sure that my technique is nailed down and able to just get better every day. I really have a focus every day to be able to go out to practice with certain things you want to get better (at). There’s a lot of nuance to it, and I like that a lot.

“Overarching, the biggest reason is you get to go out there and you get to take someone’s will every play. You get to go put someone into the ground. You want to see them–at the end of the game, you want to see them looking for the sideline.”

Roster impact

With 54 starts at right tackle, Miller looks like a plug-and-play starter on the right side—Holmes said he is “starting tackle already”—but he won’t be handed the starting right tackle job and will face competition from free agent acquisition Larry Borom. The pair will likely start training camp in a battle, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Miller take control of the competition early.

With Miller set up on the right side, this will prompt the Lions to move Penei Sewell to left tackle, as they hypothesized earlier this offseason. While Sewell is an All-Pro right tackle, he is a natural left tackle and has plenty of experience playing on that side of the line in both the NFL and in college.

With these moves, the Lions’ projected offensive line should be:

• LT Penei Sewell
• LG Christian Mahogany
• C Cade Mays
• RG Tate Ratledge
• RT Blake Miller

As for the rest of the depth chart, Borom is projected to be the Lions’ swing OT3 with Giovanni Manu fighting to force the Lions to keep an OT4. Devin Cochran rounds out the tackle group, though we have seen other reserve interior prospects also take snaps on the outside, like Miles Frazier and Colby Sorsdal. In total, the Lions now have 15 offensive linemen under contract, meaning they may still pursue some interior help later on in the draft or via the UDFA pool of players, but they will by no means be pressed to add more competition.