The Detroit Lions loved Blake Miller and really wanted to land the Clemson offensive tackle in the 2026 NFL Draft. So much so, that Detroit even thought about trading up to get him.  

However, the first round Thursday night unfolded in such a manner that Lions executive vice president and general manager Brad Holmes expected Miller to still be on the board when the team’s pick came around.

Indeed, that turned out to be the case, and the Lions snatched Miller up with the No. 17 overall selection.

“We definitely explored strongly about trading up,” Holmes said, “and seeing how it started to fall, probably right after L.A. took the quarterback [Alabama’s Ty Simpson at No. 13], I felt pretty good that we might be able to just get Blake. … Right about 14, I felt pretty good that we would be able to keep our assets and still land Blake.”

Detroit’s fondness of Miller isn’t something new. In fact, Holmes says the Lions have been high on Miller for quite some time and had their eye on him for a few years now.

They view Miller as a “high-floor” tackle with the potential to continue improving as a professional.

“Really high-floor player,” 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. But his ability – 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.”

“He probably has no idea, but we’ve been watching Blake for about three years now,” Holmes added, “and he literally has gotten better every single year, and that’s what makes you really excited about a player like that who actually has a high floor, but he’s gotten better every year. So coming to this level with our offensive line coach and our ecosystem, I don’t see any reason why he won’t continue to get better.”

Miller broke the Clemson record for career snaps from scrimmage with his 3,778 offensive snaps over 54 career games from 2022-25. A hard-nosed iron man, he started every game Clemson played in his entire four-year career and also set the Clemson record for consecutive starts by a non-specialist with 54.

He followed his 2022 freshman All-American season with three consecutive All-ACC seasons and joined Mitch Hyatt (four), Jeb Flesch (three) and Tyrone Crowder (three) as the fourth offensive lineman in school history to be a three-time All-ACC honoree.

Miller really grabbed Holmes’ attention back when he saw his sophomore film.

“In ’24, watching his ’23 tape early in the season, the first thing I [saw] was his urgency and athleticism. That was the first thing that really caught my eye,” Holmes said. “… I just wrote down, ‘This kid’s a football player,’ and I was definitely hot on the guy.”

Miller became the seventh Clemson player selected by the Lions all-time and the first offensive lineman selected by the Lions in the first round since 2021, when Detroit selected four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection Penei Sewell.

Holmes believes the franchise’s first-round pick was well spent, and he’s sleeping very well after the selection of Miller.

“He’s been very durable thus far,” Holmes said. “That’s a big-time program. They’ve played some big-time football, and he’s gone against some really good pass rushers in his career. And how he’s held up vs. the pass rushers that he’s faced throughout his career, going back to previous year film, it says a lot.

“When you think about Blake Miller, you sleep easy. You sleep very, very good at night. So, that’s what gets us fired up.”