Lions fill need, draft OT Blake Miller in first round

ALLEN PARK — Offensive tackle Blake Miller (Clemson) was selected by the Detroit Lions with the 17th overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

Miller, 22, fills a need on the offensive line with the departure of veteran left tackle Taylor Decker. Right tackle Penei Sewell could shift to the left side with Miller possibly starting at right tackle.

“When you think about Blake Miller, you sleep easy,” Lions GM Brad Holmes said in a statement that says it all.

Miller, who is 6-foot-7 and 317 pounds, was a Week 1 starter as a true freshman for the Tigers in 2022 and has played 3,762 career snaps since. All but 125 of those have come at right tackle. He holds the Clemson record for snaps from scrimmage  — 3,778 in 54 games, all starts.

Miller said he never missed a game in college, high school or even middle school.

“He just checks a lot of boxes,” Holmes said. “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 that. That’s the easy part. His ability is the stuff — he’s athletic, he’s a good athlete. It’s hard to find guys who can move like that and are finishers.”

Holmes said that Miller might not be aware but they’ve been watching him play for about four years. “He literally has gotten better every single year, that’s what makes you real excited about a player like that who actually has a high floor and has gotten better every single year,” Holmes said.

Miller met with the Lions through the pre-draft process. “I just loved the culture, the organization, I love the grit, I love the toughness that’s emphasized outside looking in and I really want to uphold that standard,” he said in a Zoom call.

He spoke just the right words when asked if he expects to contribute immediately. “My goal is to come in and work as hard as I humanly can, to be the best player I can humanly be,” Miller said. “At the end of the day how the cards fall fom there I can live with.”

Miller will benefit from being in the same offensive line group with Sewell, a first-round pick in 2021 who is considered one of the NFL’s top tackles. Miller said he’s watched plenty of tape on Sewell while in college and looks forward to working with him.

Lions coach Dan Campbell spoke to FOX 2 sports following the selection: “We had a lot of love for the guy. There were a lot of top-tier tackles in here, and when you start watching, man, the closer we got to the draft, his consistency, the steadiness that he provided, it was just good production, week in, week out, for multiple years.”

At Clemson Miller was a first-team All-ACC selection, becoming the 25th player in school history to earn at least three career All-ACC selections. Miller, who earned a degree in financial management in May 2025, wrestled and played football at Strongsville (Ohio) High School which is about 160 miles from Detroit. He was at home in Strongsville Thursday night with family and friends when he got the call from Detroit.

The Lions have eight more picks in the draft which will wrap up on Saturday. They have one second-round pick (50th overall), two fourth-round picks (118 and 128), two fifth-round picks (157 and 181), two sixth-rounders (205 and 213) and one seventh-round pick (222).

Second- and third-round picks will be drafted on Friday starting at 7 p.m. The fourth-seventh round picks begin at noon on Saturday.

Detroit Lions draft: Brad Holmes clear-eyed on taking best player available

Entering his 6th draft, GM won’t reach for player of need

Brad Holmes said that while his draft process has evolved in recent years, one thing that has not changed is what he sees on film.

Another – and this is huge – is that the Lions GM drafts the best player available. This is not breaking news, it’s been his process entering his sixth draft in Detroit.

While certainly there appear to be roster needs, that does not sway him or how staff.

“I always think because like I’ve always said the reason we take the best player available approach is because there is only one draft and the roster is going to change every single year. Every single year — new needs, contracts are going to expire , things are going to happen,’’ Holmes said in a pre-draft presser on Monday. “So what may not seem as immediate — I need this right now —  that may not be the case for the next year.

“That’s been our approach on that. There have been times when it lines up maybe the best player is a perceived need and it lines up that way. It’s lined up that way in the past but that’s not always the case,’’ Holmes added.

The Lions have the 17th overall pick along with eight other picks in the NFL draft which runs April 23-25.

While a year ago, drafting an EDGE rusher seemed like a no-brainer but Holmes did not make it happen. He never apologized. A year later, still there’s a perceived need there but that doesn’t mean Holmes will draft one this year either.

He will not reach for a player of a certain position.

“You can’t take a player that you’re not fired up about because he plays a certain position. And the reason you weren’t fired up about him shows that on the field and that’s why you had reservations for him,’’ Holmes said. “So now you have the double-whammy.’’

He will only draft players he is excited about and he won’t tip his hand. It’s the Holmes Way.

After disappointing season, GM Brad Holmes says ‘Lions aren’t that far off’

Despite a disappointing 9-8 season, Lions GM Brad Holmes still believes the Lions are close to  being an NFL contender.

“I don’t think that we’re that far off. I personally don’t,’’ Holmes said at a season-ending press conference on Thursday. “We have a lot of good players, we have a lot of good young ascending players, we have a really good quarterback, we have the right coach. I do think we’re very close.’’

Holmes has already started an introspection top to bottom of why the Lions came up short and failed to make the playoffs.

“We’ll be looking at everything, but I do not think that this is a deep surgery overhaul,’’ Holmes said. “I don’t think that but obviously there needs to be some adjustments.’’

Holmes answered questions for about 40 minutes. He was short on specifics which is his tendency but seems determined to right the ship which finished 2024 with a 15-2 record.

“Bottom line, for our standards, this was a disappointment,’’ Holmes said. “When we set out for this journey for this season it wasn’t to match last year’s record or exceed last year’s record — it doesn’t really matter what the record is — bottom line is if we’re not in the dance and we’re not competing for a championship then it’s a failure.’’

Plain and simple.

Offensive coordinator John Morton has been fired, but no other coaching changes have been announced at this point. The offense came up short of its goals but this disappointing season obviously wasn’t all on Morton. Injuries, again, played a big role in getting them to play consistently good football.

“It’s a lot of things. We’re going to have to take a long, hard look,’’ Holmes said. “Before I look at anything I’ll look at myself.’’