Detroit Lions rookie tackle Blake Miller has gotten better and better throughout training camp, which should already have fans excited to see once the regular season kicks off. It's unclear if he's won the starting right tackle job over Larry Borom just yet, but you have to feel good about his chances to do so given the work he's been putting in throughout the offseason.
This past week, Miller had a clear win in camp that probably made Lions fans even more excited about the prospect of him starting on the offensive line. He beat out Aidan Hutchinson during a 1-on-1 rep that, honestly, didn't look very close.
Valuable reps pic.twitter.com/JNvXoAPSmk
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 19, 2026
There's two ways you can look at this: Miller staved off Hutchinson who, by all accounts, has looked like a legend throughout training camp this year. That's unbelievably impressive for a rookie tackle who came into camp with some issues in pass protection.
The other way you can look at it, if you're more pessimistic, is that Hutchinson couldn't even beat out a rookie in a 1-on-1 rep. Sure, that's a little surprising, but fans shouldn't read into this too much as a jab on Hutchinson. This is simply stellar work from Miller, as he's clearly getting sharpened by one of the best pass rushers in the league.
Miller-Hutchinson battles should make fans excited for season
Team reporter Tim Twentyman recently wrote about how great Hutchinson's camp has been, comparing his production to that of his 2022 camp. That year, he had 9.5 sacks as a rookie in addition to three interceptions (still a career-high), three pass breakups, and 6.5 stuffs.
"All-Pro edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson has looked terrific in camp. It's probably the best camp he's had since joining the league in 2022. He wins a lot of rushes in team periods from both sides of the line, and the Hutch rule was developed to let the offense finish a rep and quarterback Jared Goff finish a throw despite Hutchinson having what would be a clear sack on the play if he was allowed to contact the quarterback."
As for Miller, he finished up his first preseason game with the highest run-blocking rate of any rookie lineman in their preseason debuts. He really could've had a bad debut and fans still wouldn't have had reason to panic, especially considering All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell had a rough rookie preseason, and look at him now.
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Instead, he managed to look like a real pro amid some missteps along the rest of the line, some from veterans like Christian Mahogany.
This was just one rep won by Miller, and he's going to keep losing some in camp. He just lost one to rookie Derrick Moore ahead of their Saturday preseason game against the Washington Commanders, showing that he's still a bit up and down in his progression. Or, if you did want to continue that half glass full thinking, shows how great Moore is already looking.
Either way, Miller is taking the right steps in camp that will translate to regular season success for him, and for Detroit.
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