Here’s the thing that, for fans, is so awful about NFL mediocrity. Your team doesn’t make the playoffs, so that stinks. You don’t get a killer high draft pick, so that stinks.
Then, on draft night, you must watch, slowly pulling your hair out, as teams that were worse than yours pluck off the players you wish you could get in order to rise out of – wait for it – mediocrity.
The Detroit Lions, who finished a mediocre 9-8 last year, watched the first eight picks of the draft on Thursday, April 23, and might have been pinching themselves. Their biggest need was an offensive lineman, and not a single one had been taken! Visions of a tackle/guard buffet were dancing in fans’ heads.
Then, with pick No. 9, the Cleveland Browns took Utah OL Spencer Fano, and with pick No. 10, the N.Y. Giants took Miami (Florida) OL Francis Mauigoa, whom many considered the top prospect on the line. Two picks later, the Miami Dolphins nabbed Alabama OL Kaydyn Proctor, whom some had predicted as the Lions’ pick. Two picks after that, the Baltimore Ravens snatched massive Olaivavega Ioane from Penn State.
Buffet closed.
Then, just in case the Lions were thinking about “best available player” in their other big need, edge rusher, off the board went Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr,, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 15.
Welcome to life in the middle.
With pick No. 17, the Lions selected Blake Miller from Clemson – a 6-foot-6 rock of experience. A dependable, quality-person lineman.
They did fine.
Not splashy. Not risky.
Fine.
Fishing for fixes on the line
Miller, on paper, fills what the Lions need at right tackle, especially since Penei Sewell’s move to the left side seems certain. Detroit has now gone fishing in the trade, free agency and draft waters and yanked up a boat’s worth of offensive line bodies. Their 2026 group will feature Cade Mays, Larry Borom and Ben Bartch (arriving as free agency) Juice Scruggs (who came in a trade) and now Miller, alongside Sewell and other guys from last year, such as Christian Mahogany and Tate Ratledge.
Was Miller, a four-year starter at Clemson, really the Lions’ first choice? Who knows? Did they have a shot at trading up? Who knows? Could they have traded back and still gotten Miller – who was not projected by many as going that high – and perhaps have picked up a needed third-round pick?
Who knows? This is not the kind of information that Brad Holmes, or many other GMs, share with the public. Teams almost always tell you that the guy they drafted was the guy they’d targeted all along, and they’re thrilled that he was available. Sometimes it’s true. Sometimes it’s just the best thing to say.
You can moan. You can second-guess. But if decades of covering the NFL have taught me anything, it’s that you never know with draft picks, any more than you know which seeds you plant in the spring are going to sprout the fastest in the summer. Just remember names like Ryan Leaf, Tony Mandarich, JaMarcus Russell or Charles Rogers, whenever you think you have a sure draft pick.
Filling a hole, safely and smartly
Miller, by all accounts, is smart, flexible, doesn’t easily injure and has a ton of games under his belt. (He broke the record for career snaps at Clemson.) For a Lions team hoping to leap back into Super Bowl conversations, you’d rather have experience than a project.
Miller is reportedly quick enough to pick up speedy rushers to protect the quarterback, and strong enough to lead the way on a rushing play. With Borom, he gives the Lions two options at right tackle, which is good, since Sewell was generally worth two guys when he played that spot.
In Rounds 2-7, we’ll find out how well the Lions can address the rest of their needs. For now, no, they didn’t take a crazy leap of faith – like the L.A. Rams selecting Ty Simpson as a quarterback of the future when they are trying to win a Super Bowl this year with Matthew Stafford – and they didn’t go for that surprising high talent that somehow fell, as the Philadelphia Eagles did by trading up to grab top-rated receiver Makai Lemon from USC. The Lions played it safe and smart. They had a hole. They filled it. That’s life in the middle. Step by step is how you get out of it.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates on his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow @mitchalbom on x.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mitch Albom: Blake Miller a safe 1st-round draft pick for Detroit Lions’ life in the middle
Reporting by Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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