The Detroit Lions are asking a lot of their offensive line, and they’re not pretending otherwise. The talent is there, but the group still needs time to build the kind of timing and communication that makes the whole operation click.
That reality has put rookie Blake Miller right in the fire. He’s being thrown a massive workload early, and the Lions are making sure he gets a steady diet of difficult reps.
That includes plenty of work against Aidan Hutchinson, who is one of the top defensive ends in the National Football League. During an 11-on-11 team period, Hutchinson beat Miller with his patented swim move and was able to leave him behind after Miller took steps backward in pass protection. Reporters described Miller as guarding air on the play.
This is the time of year when the details matter most, especially with the team not wearing pads. Miller’s footwork has at times put him in a tough spot during both competitive and team periods, and those kinds of issues show up quickly when the reps get real.
Still, the first-round pick has also shown why Detroit made him a priority in the draft. He’s been getting a heavy share of first-team work, and with that comes the usual learning curve.
Dan Campbell said he expects the starting offensive line to be ready for the season-opener, but he also made it clear that growth will continue once the games begin. In his view, Miller should benefit from the battles waiting for him all camp long against Hutchinson, D.J. Wonnum and Derrick Moore.
There’s also a reason the Lions aren’t shying away from pressure looks on that side. Miller did have his share of trouble at times against the better defensive ends he faced in college, and opposing defensive coordinators can see the path to testing Detroit early.
Even with Penei Sewell anchoring the right side as one of the best tackles in football, that part of the line is going to be challenged over and over. Campbell said the chemistry between linemen has to become almost instinctive before it really shows up on the field.
“I say this all the time, but it’s between the O-line and the DBs. That’s the most correlation when you start talking about communication and how they flow," said Campbell.
"A lot of times, things happen without a word being said. Once you really get to know the guy you’re next to and you’ve got a smart, headsy group.
They’re pretty aware and instinctive, man you start anticipating these things. You start anticipating the movement, the spikes, the pressure and you’re working all as one.
Like, Okay Sewell knows that he feels it. He’s already stepping down and the guard if he feels it, man he knows, ‘I don’t need to go flying out to Sewell.
I can just sit here and wait because Sewell will pass it to me,’ for example. Otherwise you stepped on each other, Sewell’s stepping and he feels it, you don’t feel it, I stepped on Sewell’s foot, Sewell’s tripping.
"That's what happens and it takes time, man," Campbell explained further. "And, there again, the faster we can get these five established and they just need reps together over and over and over and over, then the better you're going to be.
And look, it's a work in progress. We will be much better by the time we hit game one.
But, this thing is going to go now. It's going to take, even when we get it there, because we have some young players, they're going to grow as the season goes.
It's going to take a minute.”
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