Why Brad Holmes resisted urge to trade up for Blake Miller

A run on offensive tackles had begun, and the Lions were still several picks away from being on the clock. Brad Holmes was getting the itch.

Spencer Fano went to the Browns at No. 9, Francis Mauigoa to the Giants at No. 10. Holmes didn't want to miss out on his guy, Blake Miller, so he started making calls.

"Look, we talked to teams, up, way up, and we just talked about it to try to see if we can be at peace with the capital that you would have to spend," Holmes said. "But yeah, we definitely explored strongly about trading up. Just seeing how it started to fall, probably right after L.A. took the quarterback I felt pretty good that we might be able to just get Blake."

After Kadyn Proctor went to the Dolphins at No. 12, the Rams pulled the first stunner of the draft and took Alabama QB Ty Simpson at No. 13. That's when Holmes and the Lions probably breathed a sigh of relief. The Rams had been rumored to be targeting a tackle. Based on the Lions' projections, they figured Miller would make it past the Ravens, Buccaneers and Jets and be on the board at No. 17.

While there was still a chance they could get jumped by a team eyeing a tackle behind them, like the Panthers, Steelers or Eagles, the Lions decided to sit tight. It was the right call in the end.

"The other thing that you’re just a little scared of is, OK, I felt like from the outside looking in, we had this big tackle target on our back. So if a team behind us was in the tackle market, then they might want to jump us as well, so we definitely explored that. But right about 14, I felt pretty good that we would be able to keep our assets and still land Blake," said Holmes.

The Ravens took guard Vega Ioane, the Bucs took Reuben Bain Jr. and the Jets took tight end Kenyon Sadiq. Behind the Lions, Monroe Freeling went No. 19 to the Panthers and Max Iheanachor went No. 21 to the Panthers, sandwiched between wide receiver Makai Lemon to the Eagles.

And the Lions stood pat and got their guy.