Detroit Lions 2026 training camp preview: Will Blake Miller win the starting RT job?

In this installment of our Detroit Lions 2026 training camp preview series, we examine the Lions’ offensive tackle room, speculate on current and future roles, and discuss how many players from this group could make the 53-man roster.

Previous training camp previews:

• Quarterback: Can Luke Altmyer force a QB3 role?
• Running back: How RB roles could shift in 2026
• Wide receiver: WR depth roles up for grabs
• Tight end: How many TEs will make the roster?

Roster construction

Under the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell regime, the Lions have consistently added offensive linemen as the season progresses. While they typically begin each season with eight to 10 offensive linemen, they’ve consistently finished with 10 or 11 on the active roster.

Let’s take a look at what they’ve done at offensive tackle in the previous five seasons:

• 2021: Opened with three offensive tackles (Penei Sewell, Taylor Decker, and Matt Nelson), but finished with four (Will Holden).
• 2022: Opened with three OTs (Sewell, Decker, and Nelson), and finished with four (Dan Skipper).
• 2023: Opened with three OTs (Sewell, Decker, and Nelson), and finished with four (Skipper).
• 2024: Opened and finished with four OTs (Sewell, Decker, Skipper, and Giovanni Manu).
• 2025: Opened and finished with three OTs (Sewell, Decker, and Manu; Manu was placed on IR in Week 5 and replaced by Skipper).

An offseason of change

After five seasons of having Sewell and Decker bookending the offensive line, the Lions released Decker after a complicated early portion of the offseason. Adding to the turnover at offensive tackle, Dan Skipper—who had been OT3 or OT4 over the last four seasons—retired and joined the Lions coaching staff as an offensive assistant.

As a result of these offseason moves, the Lions made three major decisions. First, they decided to move Sewell to left tackle—where he played full time in college and sporadically in the NFL—then they quickly signed Michigan native and NFL veteran Larry Borom on the opening day of free agency, and the final big move was selecting Clemson right tackle Blake Miller with pick No. 17 in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Additionally, the Lions are expected to get Giovanni Manu back on the field during training camp after an early-season injury sidelined him for the majority of 2025, and they re-signed practice squader Devin Cochran.

The battleground

Will Blake Miller win the starting RT job?

The Lions have said they will let Miller and Borom battle it out for the starting right tackle position, and during spring practices they held true to their word, rotating each player through the first and second team. The Lions aren’t afraid to start a rookie if he earns the job, and historically, this regime’s first-round picks tend to start from the jump.

Miller is loaded with more experience than the average rookie, having started 54 games in college, as well as possessing an ideal combination of height (6-foot-7), length (34.25-inch arm length),...