Blake Miller is a Day 1 starter. Derrick Moore is a backup – for now.
That’s how I see the Detroit Lions’ top draft picks fitting into their two-deep roster as they get ready for Phase 2 of the offseason program.
Miller earned a starting job out of the gate as a freshman at Clemson and went on to start 54 career games at the school. I expect him to follow a similar path for the Lions – start Day 1 and for the balance of two contracts, while the recently-signed Larry Borom plays swing tackle.
Miller will have some hiccups as a rookie, like Tate Ratledge did last year, but he should give the Lions two bookend tackles to build their line around for the foreseeable future.
Moore’s addition filled one of the Lions’ most pressing needs at defensive end, but there’s a more rotational nature to that position and the way general manager Brad Holmes described his vision for the defensive line after the draft hinted at how the Lions will use their pass rushers opposite Aidan Hutchinson this fall.
“Hutch takes a lot of snaps, man, so just to have another body that literally can spell Hutch in that rush rotation,” Holmes said of Moore. “When you line up in nickel and sub defense, a guy that can line up on the opposite, a guy that can line up inside. Shep [defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard] is going to put the guys in the best position to what they do best and so that’s what he showed on tape is he can set edges in the run game, he can rush outside, he can rush inside. And I’m quite sure that’s how Shep’s going to utilize him.”
Hutchinson played 91% of the Lions’ defensive snaps last season, and even if the Lions hope to bring that down a tick, that doesn’t leave much playing time for a backup.
Moore should rotate at the second defensive end spot with DJ Wonnum and Levi Onwuzurike – Dan Campbell laid out his vision for those pass rushers at the NFL’s annual meeting in March – while Payton Turner, Tyler Lacy and Ahmed Hassanein battle it out for the No. 5 job.
Onwuzurike and Lacy also can play inside, and the Lions, like most teams use multiple ends in sub packages.
Here’s how I see the Lions’ two-deep rotation shaping up for now, though I don’t expect to see much of several players – Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch, Terrion Arnold, Kerby Joseph – in the limited access we get this spring.
Offense
QB: Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs, Isiah Pacheco
WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tom Kennedy
WR: Jameson Williams, Dominic Lovett
WR: Isaac TeSlaa, Greg Dortch
TE: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright
LT: Penei Sewell, Gio Manu
LG: Christian Mahogany, Ben Bartch
C: Cade Mays, Juice Scruggs
RG: Tate Ratledge, Miles Frazier
RT: Blake Miller, Larry Borom
Defense
DE: Aidan Hutchinson, Derrick Moore
DT: Alim McNeill, Mekhi Wingo
DT: Tyleik Williams, Jay Tufele
DE: Levi Onwuzuirke, DJ Wonnum
LB: Derrick Barnes, Trevor Nowaske
LB: Jack Campbell, Damone Clark
LB: Malcolm Rodriguez, Jimmy Rolder
CB: D.J. Reed, Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
CB: Terrion Arnold, Rock Ya-Sin
S: Brian Branch, Christian Izien
S: Kerby Joseph, Thomas Harper
Special teams
K: Jake Bates
P: Jack Fox
LS: Hogan Hatten
KR: Tom Kennedy, Sione Vaki
PR: Greg Dortch, Tom Kennedy
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions depth chart: How rookies Blake Miller, Derrick Moore fit
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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