Watch: Blake Miller on video
The Detroit Lions head into training camp with one starting job genuinely up for grabs: right tackle. Head coach Dan Campbell has called it an open competition, with veteran free-agent signing Larry Borom and first-round pick Blake Miller competing for the job, and, in Campbell’s framing, whoever plays best lining up Week 1 against New Orleans.
The competition carries extra weight because of how Campbell has structured this camp. For the first time in five years, the Lions will not hold joint practices with another team, choosing instead to keep the focus internal. That decision changes how the right tackle job gets decided: rather than testing Borom and Miller against outside pass rushers in controlled sessions, Detroit will evaluate them almost entirely against its own defensive front.
For a veteran like Borom, the setup rewards consistency against a defense he sees every day. For Miller, a rookie, it means every rep in Allen Park counts double, with no joint-practice tape to pad the evaluation or cover a bad day. The margin for a first-year lineman is thin when the only auditions are in-house.
Rookies report July 25 and veterans July 28, with open practices at the Meijer Performance Center running Aug. 2 through Aug. 19. Campbell has been clear that right tackle is the one line spot without a presumptive answer, and the absence of joint practices means it will be won or lost entirely on the Lions’ own field before the opener in New Orleans.
