Blake Miller, Two Wolverines, and Detroit’s Quiet Draft

SWN Analysis · August 29, 2026

Detroit spent its first-round pick on an offensive tackle in a draft that valued them more than any in recent memory, then went and took two Michigan defenders.

Seven picks, a clear theme, and a class built to reinforce rather than rebuild.

Blake Miller, OT — No. 17, Clemson

The player. Miller landed in the middle of the round’s defining run. Nine offensive linemen went in the first 32 selections — seven tackles and two interior linemen — starting with Utah’s Spencer Fano to Cleveland at No. 9 and ending with his college teammate Caleb Lomu to New England at 28.

Detroit has built its identity on the offensive line under this front office, and a first-round tackle from Clemson fits the pattern exactly.

Playing time projection. Immediate starter or first man in. Seventeenth-overall linemen don’t develop on the bench.

Derrick Moore, EDGE — No. 44, Michigan

The second-round pass rusher, and the first half of a deliberate local pipeline.

Moore arrives from Michigan with the kind of production that usually goes higher, and Detroit taking a Wolverine in the second round has a resonance in this market that a scouting report doesn’t capture.

Playing time projection. Rotational pass rusher from Week 1, with snaps expanding as the season goes.

Jimmy Rolder, LB — No. 118, Michigan

The other Wolverine, taken in the fourth round.

Two Michigan defenders in one class isn’t a coincidence — it’s a front office comfortable drafting from a program it can scout in person, playing a schedule it knows.

Playing time projection. Special teams and rotational linebacker snaps.

Keith Abney II, CB — No. 157, Arizona State

A fifth-round corner. Secondary depth is where Detroit’s roster has historically been thinnest, and Day 3 corners who can play special teams stick.

Playing time projection. Depth and coverage units.

Kendrick Law, WR — No. 168, Kentucky

The fifth-round receiver. On a roster with established pass catchers, his path runs through returns and gunner work.

Playing time projection. Special teams, with offensive snaps if injuries open a door.

Two late interior linemen

Skyler Gill-Howard, DT (No. 205, Texas Tech) and Tyre West, DT (No. 222, Tennessee) close the class out — two late-round interior linemen, which is how teams find rotational defensive tackles without spending capital.

Three elsewhere in the division

Dillon Thieneman, S — Chicago Bears (No. 25). An NFC North matter. Chicago took a safety in the first round to fix a defense that led the NFL with 33 takeaways and 23 interceptions while finishing 23rd in scoring defense and 29th in total defense. The Bears also took Iowa center Logan Jones at 57, the reigning Rimington Trophy winner, into an open competition with veteran Garrett Bradbury.

Brandon Cisse, CB — Green Bay Packers (No. 52). Green Bay’s most notable addition, in an offseason where the bigger story is Micah Parsons opening camp on the physically unable to perform list after tearing his knee last December. He’ll likely miss the first four games.

Fernando Mendoza, QB — Las Vegas Raiders (No. 1). The class headline. Mendoza went from an unknown in August 2025 to a Heisman winner and national champion at Indiana to first overall — the first Hoosier taken in the first round since 1994. He opened camp behind Kirk Cousins.

A good roster’s draft

A tackle, two Michigan defenders, and four Day 3 picks aimed at depth. Detroit didn’t need this draft to produce a starter beyond Miller, and it mostly didn’t try to.

That’s what a good roster’s draft looks like.

What to look for

Miller in September. If Detroit’s first-round tackle is starting from Week 1, the line stays the strength it’s been.

The Michigan pair is the longer story. Moore has the clearer path to production; Rolder is the one who’ll surprise people in year two if the pipeline works.

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