Brad Holmes is watering the garden. With yet another trade up the board, the Lions drafted LSU guard Miles Frazier in the fifth round, No. 171 overall.
Frazier was a three-year starter at LSU, the last two seasons at right guard, the first at left. To move up 11 spots, the Lions sent pick No. 182 and one of their seventh-rounders (No. 228) to the Patriots.
The Frazier pick comes a day after the Lions traded up in the second round for Georgia guard Tate Ratledge. Holmes said entering this offseason that he wanted to continue adding talent to Detroit's offensive line, which has fueled the team's success in recent seasons.
"It’s not a specific position. It’s not, ‘Oh, it has to be a future left tackle, or a starting guard, or someone to develop behind Frank (Ragnow). I think when you start going in those specific avenues, you can kind of ignore something else. I just think you have to keep the whole garden watered, at all points," said Holmes.
Frazier, 6'6, 317 pounds, is a self-described "mauler" who prides himself on "extra-effort" plays like "knockdowns and pancakes." In his last two seasons at LSU, he allowed one sack on 999 pass-blocking opportunities, per Pro Football Focus. Ratledge allowed two sacks on 1,114 pass-blocking opportunities in his final three seasons at Georgia.
"Tate Ratledge is my dog," Frazier said. "We trained together at O-line Masterminds in Frisco, Texas with Duke Mayweather, so I’ve met him in this whole pre-draft process and every step of the way I was with him training for the combine, so I have a good relationship with Tate. Yeah, that’s my dog. I just met him recently, but he’s family."
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein compares Frazier to former Lions Pro Bowl guard Jonah Jackson, noting that "Frazier has things to clean up but carries pro measurables and a play demeanor that gives him a shot to become a starter."
Frazier, 23, called it "an unbelievable opportunity" to join a team with one of the top offensive lines in the NFL. He said he learned a lot about the Lions last year from defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo, a sixth-round pick of Detroit in 2024 and his former teammate at LSU.
"He would talk about the O-line specifically, how dominant they are in practice and games and how they’re one of the best in the league, so I just want to be a part of something greater," Frazier said. "I’m ready to compete. At the end of the day, competition breeds excellence, and I just want to go be around the best so I can become the best."