The Detroit Lions addressed two of their greatest needs during the first two days of the 2026 NFL Draft, selecting Clemson offensive tackle Blake Miller in the first round and Michigan edge defender Derrick Moore in the second.

“We’re all about building from the inside, out,” general manager Brad Holmes said Friday, April 24. “When you get the guys you love and they happen to play the trenches as well, that’s just a little bit of added bonus. We’ll definitely sleep good at night.”

When Holmes and the rest of the Lions’ executives wake up Saturday, they’ll have the opportunity to strengthen other sectors with their six remaining picks. Positions where they could seek reinforcements include safety, defensive tackle, tight end, running back and linebacker.

Here are 10 names to watch on Day 3:

Gracen Halton, Oklahoma DT

CARLOS MONARREZ: Derrick Moore has important role to play with Detroit Lions

Halton was never a full-time starter at Oklahoma. But when he was on the field, he was a disruptive force. Last season, he produced 3½ sacks and 30 pressures – the second-highest total on the Sooners. He was also a reliable run stopper. He could conceivably fill the void left by Roy Lopez, a rotational interior lineman who rejoined the Arizona Cardinals in March.

The Cincinnati Reds return home tonight after a 5-1 road trip. It’s Reds Hall of Fame induction weekend with events taking place every day of the series. Cincinnati is welcoming in the Detroit Tigers, who are on a 2-game winning streak. First pitch tonight is scheduled for 6:50pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Eugenio Suarez was initially in the lineup as the designated hitter. Just after 6pm he was scratched from the lineup with what the Reds are calling mid-back pain. Nathaniel Lowe is now the designated hitter.

Starting Pitchers

Andrew Abbott

It has been an uneven start to 2026 for the Reds left-handed All-Star pitcher. He was dominant in his first outing of the season, and he pitched well in Miami, but he’s struggled in each of his last two starts and wasn’t exactly good in his second start of the season, either. All told his ERA is nearly six and he has 11 walks with just 15 strikeouts in 24.2 innings pitched so far this season.

When it comes to the platoon splits – last season there wasn’t a big difference in how lefties or righties hit him. Teams didn’t send many left-handed hitters out to face him, so he was only facing the best lefties in the game while facing your every day right-handers. Righties did hit for a bit more power, but they didn’t hit for much power. This season, which isn’t listed below, lefties are CRUSHING him. They are hitting an absurd .478/.500/.609 against him in their 24 trips to the plate. Righties are hitting .266/.344/.367 against him, but also have 10 walks and just nine strikeouts – making tons of contact but not being able to do a ton with it thus far.

2025 Splits

Pitch Usage

Framber Valdez

In four of his five starts this season Valdez has been outstanding and allowed zero or one earned run. But on April 8th the Minnesota Twins roughed him up for eight runs on 10 hits and two walks. The 2-time All-Star is an innings eater and has averaged 192.0 innings for each of the last four years – all which came with the Houston Astros.

Last season saw Valdez pitch much worse on the road where his ERA was 4.70 (compared to 2.58 at home). He struck out far fewer batters and gave up significantly more hits. When it comes to the platoon splits, Valdez has reverse splits – or at least did last season. Like Abbott, he was only facing the best lefties around and didn’t face many of them, but the ones he did face hit for a higher average, made more contact, and hit for more power.

2025 Splits

Pitch Usage

When and Where

• Game time: 6:40pm ET
• Where: Great American Ball Park
• Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).
• Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
• Forecast: 75°, cloudy, 20% chance of rain

News and Notes

Keep an eye on the weather

While there’s not a big chance for rain at the start of the game there are spotty storms in the forecast as the evening progresses.

Jose Trevino officially begins a rehab assignment

This afternoon the Reds announced that Trevino would be joining the Dayton Dragons tonight on a rehab assignment. He hasn’t played since April 4th after having a thoracic spine strain.

Division Standings

The first time Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes noticed Blake Miller was 2024, when he was watching tape of Clemson in Miller’s sophomore season.

Holmes doesn’t remember who Miller was playing or what exactly he did in the game, but he thought enough of the young lineman – in his second of four seasons as a starter – to write a note to himself: “This kid’s a football player.”

Two years later, after seeing steady growth in Miller’s development, Holmes made Miller the 17^th pick of the first round in the 2026 NFL Draft – and the final piece of the Lions’ rebuilt offensive line.

MITCH ALBOM: Blake Miller a safe 1st-round draft pick for Detroit Lions’ life in the middle

“His urgency and athleticism, that was the first thing that really kind of caught my eye,” Holmes said. “I thought he had some things that he needed to work on from a strength-development standpoint, but I said – so this is off of ‘23 tape –I was like, ‘Man, if this guy gets stronger, man, this guy’s a football player here.’

“And sure enough, ’24 came, he got better. And ’25, it was like, ‘25, it was to the point where it was like, ‘Yeah, there’s no issues here.’ And it’s a testament to him and his work ethic, so I’m not surprised ’cause this guy’s a high football-character individual.”

Miller is expected to compete immediately at starting right tackle on a Lions offensive line that could have new starters at four different positions this fall.

All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell is expected to move to left tackle to replace the departed Taylor Decker. Free-agent addition Cade Mays will take over for Graham Glasgow at center. The Lions plan to have a training camp competition for the left guard job, where Christian Mahogany returns at starter. And Miller should vie with Larry Borom for the starting job at right tackle.

Tate Ratledge, a second-round pick out of Georgia last year, also returns as a starter at right guard.

Miller said in a conference call Thursday he’s “more than happy to fill in” wherever needed.

“My goal is just to come in and work as hard as I humanly can to be the best player I can humanly be and, at the end of the day, however the cards fall from there, I can live with,” he said.

At Clemson, Miller was one of college football’s top ironmen. He started all 54 games in his four-year career, twice earned first-team All-ACC honors and set a school record for most snaps played from scrimmage (3,778).

Miller said he doesn’t recall missing a game in middle school or high school.

“I honestly don’t know that I’ve missed a game,” he said.

And he takes immense pride in his durability.

“At the end of the day, if I’m able to play, whether it’s through injury or whether I’m blessed enough to be completely healthy, I think I owe it to my teammates to be on the field,” he said. “There’s so many people in any organization that put in so much work, not only just your teammates but also, too, staff, support staff, people behind the scenes. I owe it to them to be available and to pay it forward to them.”

Beyond his college experience, Holmes said, Miller checked “a lot of boxes” the Lions look for in their linemen as a big, tough, smart, high-floor player with plenty of upside.

At 6 feet 7 and 317 pounds, Miller was considered one of the most athletic linemen in the draft; Holmes called him “one of the better run-blocking tackles.”

“He’s been very durable thus far,” Holmes said, knocking on the wooden lectern in front of him. “But look, that’s a big-time program. I mean, they’ve played some big-time football and he’s gone against some really good pass rushers in his career and how he’s held up vs. the pass rushers that he’s faced throughout his career going back to previous year film, it says a lot.

“I’ll tell you what, when you think about Blake Miller, you sleep easy. You sleep very, very good at night, and so that’s what gets us fired up.”

Miller said he met with the Lions in the pre-draft process and felt an connection to the culture. When he talked Thursday, he referenced many of the buzzwords common to the organization – grit, toughness, finishing – and said his favorite part of playing offensive line is “you get to go out there and you get to take someone’s will every play.”

“I love the grit, love the toughness that’s emphasized just kind of outside looking in and I really want to uphold that standard,” he said.

Holmes said the Lions considered trading up in Round 1 around the time three offensive linemen – Utah’s Spencer Fano, Miami (Florida)’s Frances Mauigoa and Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor – came off the board in a four-pick span to the Cleveland Browns (No. 9), New York Giants (No. 10) and Miami Dolphins (No. 12).