Alabama also schemed up trick plays that featured him as a receiver<\/a>.<\/p>\nMonroe Freeling, LT, Georgia (6-foot-7, 315)<\/p>\n
Freeling is young and has limited experience (just 16 starts), but he has a ready-made NFL frame and has shown the ability to develop quickly, and represents huge upside as an NFL left or right tackle.<\/p>\n
In pass protection, his athleticism shines with above-average bend, quick feet, fluidity in his base, and the ability to live on an island. He\u2019s at his best when initiating contact, but needs to be more patient to not get caught overextending or playing too high. In space, he\u2019s a fluid mover, both in pass protection and the run game, allowing him to latch-and-drive defenders with power\u2014though he could use a bit more strength via an NFL weight room. He showed solid and consistent growth throughout the season as a drive defender, operating in-line, in space, and out on screens.<\/p>\n
Caleb Lomu, LT, Utah (6-foot-6, 305)<\/p>\n
As a redshirt sophomore, Lomu is still developing at the position, but he has a good feel for the left tackle spot and is an above-average athlete who doesn\u2019t panic in tough spots, especially in pass protection.<\/p>\n
As a pass protector, Lomu stays square with defenders with quick feet and active hands. He\u2019s not often fooled by defensive line eye candy, and in situations where he is beat (he can miss landmarks at times), he has above-average recovery skills because he maintains body control and hand placement. His biggest issue is a lack of core strength\u2014though he has the frame to add power\u2014and it shows up on drive blocks, making him more of a sustain blocker than pusher. He is comfortable working in space (Utah ran an outside zone blocking scheme) and can reach second-level defenders without issue.<\/p>\n
Blake Miller, RT, Clemson (6-foot-7, 314)<\/p>\n
Miller is a high-character, durable (54 starts over 4 years with no games missed) NFL starting right tackle right out of the box. His size, length (projected 35+-inch arms), and aggressive mentality will be very appealing to the Lions.<\/p>\n
In pass protection, Miller is quick out of his stance, finds his anchor point, and uses his length to land his punch first. His lateral quickness allows him to be comfortable in space, take good angles\/mirror, and control speed rushers. His physicality at the point of attack affords him the opportunity to be aggressive with his hands, and pairs well with a finisher\u2019s mentality (Note: I wrote down \u201cfinisher\u201d more times in my notes than with any other offensive lineman I scouted). His aggression can work against him at times, leading him to getting too high in his stance or lunging and thus get outleveraged, but his wrestling background provides him with some good recovery skills.<\/p>\n
Max Iheanachor, RT, Arizona State (6-foot-6, 325)<\/p>\n
Iheanachor grew up in Nigeria playing soccer and basketball, moved to the United States as a teen, but didn\u2019t start playing football until he was at a Junior College in 2021. Needless to say, he\u2019s still raw for the position, and his technique\/footwork is inconsistent, but he has the floor to win a starting role in the NFL and the developmental upside to become more.<\/p>\n
With his terrific size and athleticism (his multi-sport past shows) on display at the Senior Bowl, he turned heads and likely changed some expectations. His balance and body control show up in pass protection, as does his foot quickness and easy movement in space. However, while he usually hits his marks, he can drift at times, making him susceptible to counter moves. In the pocket, he stays square to defenders, but his anchor can be too passive, leading to an inconsistent punch, though his strength helps him recover. His ability to pull, then latch-and-drive with power in the run game will be appealing in GAP schemes, but he\u2019ll need to show he\u2019s technical enough to stick in outside zone concepts.<\/p>\n
Caleb Tiernan, LT, Northwestern (6-foot-7, 325)<\/p>\n
Tiernan, a Detroit Country Day alum, is a durable lineman with experience at both left and right tackle, and the range to kick inside to guard\u2014where some analysts project he may be best due to his length.<\/p>\n
In pass protection, he has a balanced and technical skill set, but it\u2019s hard to point to any elite skills. His feet are fast, properly placed, and under control, allowing him to set a firm anchor and absorb power rushers. HE\u2019s comfortable in space but can be susceptible to inside moves, but his strike-first hand usage can help him get ahead of that challenge. While not a drive blocker in the run game, his technical mechanics allow him to control defenders.<\/p>\n
Markel Bell, LT, Miami (6-foot-9, 358)<\/p>\n
Bell is a towering human with great length, surprisingly light feet, which help him be impactful in pass protection and the run game. He\u2019s a fluid mover with a strike-first mentality that will allow him to overwhelm defenders and clear gaps as a drive blocker. His height can lead to him being too upright at times, and overall, he\u2019s an average athlete who is still developing his technique, but there\u2019s immediate swing tackle promise as an OT3 during his rookie season.<\/p>\n
Kage Casey, LT, Boise State (6-foot-5, 309)<\/p>\n
Casey is a solid all-around athlete who is tough, experienced, and positionally flexible enough to be a swing tackle and guard depth. In pass protection, he has a solid anchor, gets square to his defender with an above-average mirror technique, and takes proper angles with his assignments. His strength shows up in his hands with a strong punch in pass protection and latch-and-drive finishing power in the run game. He handles power better than speed, but he can be stiff in his movement and get too upright at times, leading to consistency issues, and some projections have him shifting inside to guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 NFL Combine kicks off in the final week of February, and we are exploring each position…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,449,448,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-764691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroit-lions-analysis","11":"tag-detroit-lions-draft","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116103398389704973","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}