Training camp is trying for any rookie. It was more like trial by fire for Blake Miller. The 22-year-old right tackle spent several weeks getting broken down by Aidan Hutchinson, and building himself back up. A more fragile player might not have recovered by the start of the season. The Lions knew Miller had the makeup to handle it.
"He got beat a lot. Hutch got after him," Dan Campbell said this week. "I knew that was going to happen, we all did. And I told him that before camp even started. I said, 'Listen, this is what's going to happen. You're going to have hard days. It's going to be bad for a while, but don't get down in the dumps. Learn from it and grow every day. You'll be on this downslide questioning what you have. But if you just hang in there, you're going to come out of it a lot better because of the guy you're having to go against.'"
That conversation will stick with Miller for a long time.
"I remember him coming up to me and talking to me. It’s like he was telling me the future a little bit," Miller said Thursday. "He was definitely right. What he said was, just find one thing every day to get better at, one thing run, one thing pass that I really want to focus on every rep and try to improve that."
One day it might have been footwork. The next it might have been hand placement. Then it might have been squaring his shoulders against Hutchinson's power rush, then learning to counter his spin move. With every technique that Miller sharpened, Hutchinson exposed another to fix.
About midway through camp, Jared Goff was asked what the Lions need from Miller this season. Goff's reply was matter of fact: "He needs to play like a starter." It wasn't to suggest that Miller was falling short of that, but he did have some work to do. So he just kept doing it.
"He'd make his rookie mistakes, he'd get yelled at by the coaches, and then he'd fix it and it would be over and he'd move on," said Goff. "It's funny. It's like when you don't notice they're out there, they're doing a good job, and that's kind of what it's felt like in his two games. He doesn't say a word and just does his job, and has done a really good job, not only for a rookie, but just for a player in the NFL."
The Lions had a major decision to make in the draft. On Sunday night in Charlotte, their choice will be highlighted in primetime: Blake Miller or Monroe Freeling. The Lions held both offensive tackles in high regard, Campbell said this week. Most draft pundits considered Freeling the higher-ceiling prospect, while Miller was seen as the surer thing. "There was so much to it," Campbell said.
This part was mostly unspoken: the Lions were ready to shift Penei Sewell to left tackle. Their void was on the right. Miller started every game at right tackle over his four years at Clemson, totaling more than 3,700 snaps. Freeling was mostly a left tackle at Georgia, and wasn't a starter until midway through 2024. He had about 3,500 fewer snaps at right tackle than Miller. He would need time. The Lions didn't have much, if any, to spare as they try to reassert themselves as a contender after a down season.
At No. 17 overall, with Miller, Freeling and Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor on the board, the Lions chose Miller. They didn't seem to think twice. Freeling went two picks later to the Panthers, Iheanachor two picks after that to the Steelers. The debate between Miller and Freeling will be back in the spotlight this weekend when they share the field on Sunday Night Football.
"High grades on both, what they're both able to do," Campbell said. "The athleticism, the length, the power in the run game, all those things. I think for us it was just Blake, he's taken a ton of reps. That was a little bit more of what it's come to. And Freeling, listen, he's doing a good job and he's going to continue to grow just like our guy is. The more reps you get, the better you get. That's really what it came down to, just more experience over a four-year period of starting at tackle. That's it. But both really good tackles, athletic, traits, skill, all of it."
The projections, so far, have been true. The Panthers didn't necessarily intend for Freeling to start from day one. He's been thrust into the job at right tackle amid injuries to veterans Taylor Moton and Ikem Ekwonu, and he's struggled. In three starts, Freeling has allowed an NFL-high 14 quarterback pressures, per PFF, and two sacks. He'll slide into Miller's shoes from training camp Sunday night: Hutchinson awaits.
Miller, meanwhile, has been as steady as they come. In his two starts, he's allowed three pressures and zero sacks. His athleticism has helped reinvigorate Detroit's rushing attack, which crumbled last season behind an aging offensive line. Miller missed Week 2 with a minor knee injury on a short week, and his absence was glaring in the Lions' ugly loss to the Bills when veteran Larry Borom was caved in on the right end of the line.
No one's drawing any conclusions three weeks into the season. But for comparison's sake, six offensive tackles were taken in the first round of this year's draft. Two of them, Francis Mauigoa (No. 10 to the Giants) and Kadyn Proctor (No. 12 to the Dolphins) have started their careers at guard. Of the four starting at tackle, including Spencer Fano (No. 9 to the Giants), Miller -- again, through two games -- has made the smoothest transition to the NFL.
By the simple measure of PFF grade, Freeling ranks No. 42 among qualified offensive tackles this season, Fano No. 29, Iheanachor No. 24 and Miller No 19. In terms of pass-blocking, which is where he struggled the most in camp, Miller ranks No. 7.
Goff noted throughout camp, and again this week, that Miller rarely makes the same mistake twice. His feet, his hands and his mind move quickly. He's a fast learner. He's also a mammoth of a man from Strongsville, OH who won a state championship in wrestling in high school and set the back-squat record -- 620 pounds -- in the Clemson weight room.
In his NFL debut, Miller spent most of his day sparring with Saints defensive end Carl Granderson, more of a bull rusher who's "gonna get you up the field, gonna try to get you to open your shoulders and put power through the inside," said Miller. Last week, he went head to head with this year's second overall pick David Bailey of the Jets, more of a speed rusher who's "trying to get the edge, counter off it inside" and then win with power when you least expect it. Miller passed both tests.
On one of the Lions' longest pass plays last week, a 28-yard gain in the third quarter by Sam LaPorta, Miller stood up Bailey on a power move, all but turning him into a statue: "It’s a good feeling," he said as humbly as you can imagine, "if you can get your hands in that shoulder plate, at least for me, and keep your hands in, keep everything tight. That’s kind of the ideal rep that you want. Seldom do you feel that way, but when you do you’re like, 'OK, this is a good rep.'"
On the Lions' longest pass play, the 49-yard catch-and-run by Isaac TeSlaa that led to their game-winning touchdown, Bailey had a step on Miller around the edge for one of the only times in the game. But Goff felt the pressure coming, side-shuffled to buy a little time and then stepped up in the pocket and hit TeSlaa in stride over the middle. As Goff's appreciation for Miller keeps growing, the feeling is mutual.
"He’s very intelligent and he has a great feel for things like that," Miller said. "Even though he may not be looking directly at me or my block -- he’s looking downfield -- he has a good feel, whether it’s peripheral or just God given, and just so many reps at it. On plays like that where they get the edge, being able to run (the rusher) by, him step up, he does a phenomenal job of working the pocket. I was definitely very thankful on that one."
These days, Miller gets most of his practice reps against Ahmed Hassanein and Anthony Lucas. (Hassanein, he said, has been especially helpful when it comes to replicating the rusher Miller will see in that week's game: "He's always coming up to me, 'Hey, what do you need to see? He’s a great guy.") Miller is happy to be done, for now, with Hutchinson. He prefers to watch opposing offensive tackles struggle against No. 97, who added a sack and another pile of pressures to his tally in the Lions' win over the Jets.
"It’s funny you mention that," Miller said with a smile. "I was on the sidelines and the defense is out there and I’m just watching him work, I look at Larry like, ‘It’s so great to see him go against someone else, like someone else have to deal with him for once.' Because it’s evident on the tape that he’s a very special player."
It's evident that Miller might be, too. His quick acclimation to the NFL has helped the Lions outscore their defensive woes in two of their first three games. It's also aided the transition of new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, who knows he has two offensive tackles he can count on.
"The fact that he has walked into these matchups kind of unfazed in a way, and the moment's never too big, you never see panic, you never see desperation, he's always very under control, very confident in his ability, not only in the way that he acts but in the way that he plays, that's really impressive for a rookie at that position so early in his career," Petzing said Thursday.
Even if Miller's just a stable offensive tackle for the next several years opposite Sewell -- Detroit's next version of Taylor Decker, the 16th overall pick 10 years ago -- the pick for the Lions will pay dividends. If he's more than that ... well, that's getting ahead of ourselves. Miller is "by no means perfect, or even close to it," he said. "I still have plenty I want to correct."
But so far, "he's what we thought he would be," said Campbell. "He is a consistent, steady player for a young guy. He learns from every error or when he gets beat. He is growing and getting better. We love where he's at right now."
Miller is a harsh self-critic. He wants to eliminate plays like the one against Bailey where Goff almost got hit. He wants to get more movement in the run game. He's played well, but doesn't give it much stock into two games. That's how you can crash.
"They’ll be time in the future to think about, 'Oh, this was good,'" said Miller. "Right now it’s about, how can I improve, what can I improve to help this team win?"
