Blake Miller is back at Clemson, working out on campus before Thursday’s NFL Draft with the chance to do something no Tigers offensive lineman has done in more than six decades.
The former Clemson tackle said the last few months have brought a new look and a new level of attention. Miller changed his hairstyle in January, when he began NFL Combine workouts in Thousand Oaks, California, after four years at Clemson with long flowing hair. “I had a few people come up to me and say, ‘I did not know if that was you.’ But when you try a new look, I am sure there are going to be a few people that have to get used to it,” he said.
The draft itself is next up, and the stakes are clear. The 2026 NFL Draft is being held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and if Miller comes off the board in the first round, he would become the first Clemson offensive lineman selected in the first round of the Common Draft era, which began in 1967.
That is the weight behind the workouts. Clemson has not had an offensive lineman picked in the first round since Lou Cordileone went No. 12 overall to the New York Giants in 1960, a year when Harold Olson went right after him at No. 13 overall to the St. Louis Cardinals. Since then, Clemson offensive linemen have been drafted in the first three rounds only six times. The list is short: Harry Olszewski in 1968, Dave Thompson in 1971, Joe Bostic in 1979, Brandon Thomas in 2014 and Jackson Carman in 2021.
Miller’s own résumé is part of why his name has stayed near the top of draft boards. He started all 54 games of his college career, logged a program-high 3,778 offensive snaps and earned All-ACC honors three times. He has been slotted as one of the Top-10 offensive tackle prospects in his class by, The Athletic, NFL.com and several other major outlets.
He said he has already spoken with a lot of NFL teams, but has tried not to get caught up in projections. “Most teams do not give you a concreate, ‘Hey, we think you are here,’” he said. “I try not to pay attention to that too much.” Instead, he said, “I am focused on being the best I can be, getting better and getting my body in better shape and keeping my weight where it needs to be.”
If the pick comes in the first round, Miller said it would mean as much for the people around him as for himself. “It would be a tremendous honor to have that for our university and all of our coaches and staff that had poured into me over the years,” he said. “It is a testament to them as well.” He added that if it happens, “it would be such an honor.”
For Clemson, the moment would end a long wait. For Miller, it would turn years of work, and one very visible haircut, into a night that could change the school’s draft history.