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Here’s what NFL experts and analysts are saying about the Detroit Lions selecting Blake Miller as their No. 17 pick.<\/p>\n
While there was some speculation that the Detroit Lions<\/a> could try and trade up in the opening round of the 2026 NFL Draft, they stayed pat and selected offensive tackle Blake Miller out of Clemson with the 17th overall pick.<\/p>\n Miller has already been working on endearing himself to the local Detroit community, and threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday evening at Comerica Park prior to the Detroit Tigers facing the Seattle Mariners<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interviewing with sportscaster Brad Galli, Miller talked about his early impressions of the Motor City and how he\u2019s been welcomed by the fan base that will be cheering him on across the street at Ford Field for the next several seasons.<\/p>\n Detroit Lions Draft Selection Blake Miller Threw The First Pitch At A Tigers Game<\/p>\n Speaking with sportscaster Brad Galli, Miller expressed gratitude for the invitation to throw out the first pitch prior to a Tigers game, and explained that he\u2019s been getting more and more comfortable in his new surroundings in Detroit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely a special invitation to receive, and I was just so grateful to be here,\u201d Miller said<\/a>. \u201cHad to get a little bit warmed up beforehand and make sure I have a good showing, but it\u2019s amazing to be here and see everyone, and just continuing to get a feel for the city and see everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing, it was great to meet everyone here,\u201d he continued. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of history and amazing people to see. It\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t long ago that Miller\u2019s new Lions teammate Penei Sewell threw a perfect strike of a ceremonial opening first pitch at a Tigers game.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I know, Penei was already telling me that he threw a strike right down the middle, so he told me I have big shoes to fill,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n Blake Miller Is Feeling The Love From Detroit Sports Fans<\/p>\n While he\u2019s only been a member of the Detroit Lions for a short while now, the support that Miller has received has made the transition to the Motor City all the more easier.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like the amount of support I\u2019ve received from all the people in Detroit,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s on social media or just meeting people, just the warm welcome I\u2019ve felt has been amazing. It\u2019s very clear how much Detroit football and Detroit sports means to people of the city. It just makes me want to go that much harder to give my all for these people because they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n An Ohio native, Miller grew up watching the Cleveland Indians, now known as the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>. But as he put it, he\u2019s fully on board with Detroit now.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up I watched the Indians, but it\u2019s Detroit or die now,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n During his years at Clemson from 2022 to 2025, Miller earned Freshman All-American honors in 2022 and was a three-time All-ACC selection. Not only did he start all 54 games, but he also set a new school record with 3,778 offensive snaps while also allowing only 79 total career pressures.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Whitaker<\/a> Michael Whitaker is a sports journalist based in metro Detroit with nearly a full decade of experience with publications like Clutch Points and The Hockey News. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Eastern Michigan University. More about Michael Whitaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Here’s what NFL experts and analysts are saying about the Detroit Lions selecting Blake Miller as their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-720757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}