Tag: clemson

Lions OT Blake Miller was sweating it out, learning about toughness as a 2nd-grade wrestler

First-round draft pick has credentials sought by Detroit

ALLEN PARK — Blake Miller’s first lessons in toughness and grit came from a no-nonsense coach on his second-grade wrestling team.

“He’d have us in the wrestling room with the heat all the way up to 95 degrees running around, I’m just a little second-grader,’’ Miller said during his introductory press conference. “He preached not quitting, he preached toughness and I feel like that kind of stuck with me. You want to be a guy who’s tough, you want to be a guy who’s going to finish and not crumble and stuff. It’s hard.’’

It was a small beginning but it apparently planted the seed in Miller, an offensive tackle who is known for his work ethic, toughness and grit. It all appealed to the Detroit Lions who drafted Miller with their first-round pick (17th overall) on Thursday night. It’s expected that Penei Sewell will move to left tackle and Miller will start at right tackle where he played for four years at Clemson.

Miller credits his father and mother, Chris and Karen, for instilling his work ethic.

“I really thank my parents for seeing them my whole life—  they’re mortgage and real estate agents. They work around the clock. They were always there for their clients. Seeing the work ethic they had – everyday working as hard as you could. I kinda feel I owe it to them to apply that above and beyond.’’

His folks and girlfriend Kylie Jicha, made the short  trip from their home in Strongsville, Ohio, (near Cleveland)  to Allen Park on Friday. 

Since he got the big news on Thursday night, Miller said he watched more videos of coach Dan Campbell.

“Everything he says gets you fired up,’’ MIller said. “You listen to him speak, you can hear the passion in his voice, you can hear the character in his voice. That resonantes with me, it gets me fired up, it gets me ready to go.’’

Miller never missed a game in his four years at Clemson, under coach Dabo Swinney, which he said prepared him for the NFL. 

“A lot of similarities in terms of they really value toughness, they value finish, they value grit. That’s something that was emphasized  to me in college,’’ Miller said. “Just being here today, it really resonates with me. It gets me excited. I can’t say enough good things about coach Sweeney. I can’t say enough good things about Coach Campbell. They’re two incredible coaches.’’

Swinney started Miller (6-foot-7, 317 pounds) as a freshman and coached him all four years. He knew Miller had what it takes to make it to the NFL right out of the gate.

“He was made in a lab, if you’re looking for an offensive tackle. God was in a good mood when he made him. It was offensive tackle day,’’ Swinney said in a conference call on Friday. “He can run, he can play in space, he can pull and, again, he’s got what you can’t coach. He’s got some things that some of my better tackles over the years have been downgraded on a bit – that natural length and size and the strength to go along with it.’’

Miller, who was rated in the top five or six of offensive tackles in the draft,  filled a need for Detroit. He said he never worried about where he fit in.

“I was making sure I was being the best version of me every day,’’ MIller said. “I think comparison is the thief of joy. So just focusing on my process day in and day out.’’

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 DE Austin Bryant with fourth-round pick

He helped Clemson win a national title

 

ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions addressed a need on the defensive line when thy drafted defensive end Austin Bryant in the fourth round (117th overall) to kick off Day 3 of the 2019 NFL draft today (Saturday).

The Lions traded the 111th pick to the Atlanta Falcons for picks 117 and 186. They had given up pick 184 on Friday to move up and draft safety Will Harris.

“It feels great to be a Lion,’’ Bryant said on a conference call shortly after the pick.

Bryant (6-foot-4, 271 pounds) is the third straight defensive player drafted by the Lions but the first on the line. Three of his Clemson defensive line teammates were drafted in the first round — Clelin Ferrell (Raiders), Christian Wilkins (Dolphins) and Dexter Lawrence (Giants).

Bryant was part of Clemson’s two-deep rotation for his entire career, finishing with 153 tackles, 35 tackles for loss, 20 sacks, 32 quarterback pressures, four pass breakups, two caused fumbles and an interception in 1,807 snaps over 51 games (29 starts).

In 2018 he earned most outstanding defensive player honors in the Cotton Bowl with three tackles for loss, including two sacks, among his six tackles against Notre Dame. In the national championship game against No. 1 Alabama he contributed three tackles, one for loss.

He tore a pec muscle in November and played through the season, undergoing surgery in January.

“Recovery is going well, I should be cleared here soon. I have a few more weeks left on my rehab but everything is coming along great,’’ Bryant said. “Shouldn’t be any setbacks, I’m ready to get to work.’’

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein’s analysis of Bryant: “Long-limbed base end with moldable potential as a rusher, but a lack of play strength and balance finds him on the ground way too often. Bryant offers potential as a rangy edge rusher with the length to separate and turn the corner, but he might not offer up enough rush talent to overcome his struggles in holding the point against the run. He has starter’s traits and backup talent, but he could end up as a future starter if he gets his strength right.”

Bryant had outstanding junior year, per NFL.com, and followed it up with another solid year in 2018 helping Clemson win a national title. He was third-team all-ACC with 44 tackles, 14.5 for loss and eight sacks.

He graduated in December with a degree in management.

In the first two days of the draft the Lions selected tight end T.J. Hockenson (Iowa) in the first round, linebacker Jahlani Tavai (Hawaii) in the second round and safety Will Harris (Boston College in the third round.