Detroit Lions 2026 UDFA Class Review

2025 saw the Lions end a 15-year streak of having a UDFA make the initial 53-man roster. So, let’s take a look at the 9 players hoping to start a new streak in 2026. To save myself from writing it out nine times, although I’m sure I’ll mention it once or twice; for any of these players to make the roster, they have to be able to contribute on special teams, other than Altmyer, of course.

So, let’s begin………

Luke Altmyer – QB – Illinois

Altmyer is an experienced player, having spent five years in college: two at Ole Miss, where he played sparingly, and three at Illinois. The former four-star recruit is 6’2’’ 210 lbs with 9’’ hands, he can move a bit but will never be described as dual threat. 

Altmyer, who will turn 24 in October, has got better each year he played in college; hopefully, this trend continues in the pros. He doesn’t have a great arm but takes what the defence gives him and moves the ball efficiently down the field. My favourite thing about Altmyer’s game is how he looks after the ball, over the last two years he has thrown just 11 interceptions on 712 pass attempts, he has 44 touchdowns in the same timeframe. 

I don’t think the Lions will carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, so Altmyer is in line to be on the practice squad and will be the emergency third quarterback on game days. He will probably be a career backup in the NFL, I don’t see starter upside here, it I think he’s a good fit for our offence.

Miles Kitselman – TE – Tennessee  

MY GUY!! This is the third time I’m writing about Kitselman, he appeared in both the ‘My Guys’ and ‘Favourite Day-3 TE’s’ articles, so it’s fair to assume that I’m pretty happy to see him in Detroit. At 6’5’’ and 251 lbs, the former JUCO product has the prototypical size to be an in-line tight end in the NFL. 

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room here, well actually there are two elephants in this room; firstly, his lack of production, only 554 yards over the last two years and secondly, his 4.90s forty at the Combine. His lack of production is down to two things, he was asked to block a lot for the Vols, both in the run and pass game, and the offence is just not suited to a tight end, it tends to be either a run, or launch it 50 yards downfield. When he is asked to run routes, he does so with good tempo and nuance. I can’t really explain the forty, he looks plenty fast enough on tape where he often stresses linebackers with his speed, maybe he was carrying an injury or maybe he just didn’t train for it. 

I believe there is a path to the roster for Kitselman, he will start as TE6 in Detroit behind Sam LaPorta, Tyler Conklin, Brock Wright, Zach Horton and Gordon Thomas. With new offensive coordinator, Drew Petzing being one of the originators of heavy 13 personnel (1 RB and 3 TE’s) the Lions may choose to carry four on the 53-man roster, I firmly believe  Kitselman can work his way into the top four, he is already one of the better blockers in the room. He models his game after Rob Gronkowski, if he even shows a fraction of that level of talent, then this will be a great pick-up. Kitselman seems to be one of those annoying people who are good at anything they turn their hand to, he is also a scratch golfer! 

Melvin Priestly – OL – Illinois

After two years of playing left tackle at Grambling State, Priestly made the move to play right tackle at Illinois where he protected future Lions great Luke Altmyer for the last two years. Despite playing tackle in all of his 48 collegiate games, he will be moving inside to guard in the NFL due to a lack of size and athleticism, he is 6’2 ½’’ 317 lbs and at his Pro Day produced a 5.55s forty, 7’8’’ broad and 24’’ vertical, all of which would have been last amongst offensive linemen at the Combine. Frankly, he just looks and moves like a guard.

Although I knew of Priestly, I hadn’t watched him until this week, and I came away more impressed than I thought I would be. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a reason he wasn’t drafted, as I already described, he is a subpar athlete, he can also give up his chest to speed-power rushes, especially when the rusher is aligned at the 9-tech, giving them a longer run at him, Arvell Reese got him twice in this way. Priestly can also overbalance in the run game; he ends up on the floor a bit too much for my liking. Having said that, he does cause displacement and create running lanes, especially when down blocking, he uses his lack of height well here to gain leverage on the defender. In the pass protection, he has a really strong anchor and shows the ability to re-establish his hands if they get knocked away. I also have concerns over his motor; his effectiveness seemed to fall off in the fourth quarter of the games I watched.

Priestly has some potential, and I’d like to see him stick around in Detroit, the issue for him is that the interior offensive line depth is pretty full after the additions of Cade Mays, Ben Bartch, Juice Scruggs and Seth McLaughlin this offseason to a room that already had Tate Ratledge, Christian Mahogany, Miles Frazier, Colby Sorsdal and Michael Niese. I think the best Priestly can hope for is to earn a place on the practice squad.

Eric O’Neill – Edge – Rutgers  

A five-year player spent three years in the FCS with Long Island, before having a great year at James Madison and moving again to Rutgers where he spent this past year. Over his college career he has been productive, 222 total tackles, 72.5 TFL’s and 31 sacks, 13 of these sacks came in 2024 while at JMU. We all know the best ability is availability and O’Neill has appeared in 50 games and finished his career with 47 consecutive starts which will certainly appeal to the Lions. He is 6’2’’ and  247 lbs so not the usual crush the can type they have previously sought, he is an average athlete, 4.84sforty, 35.5’’ vertical, 9’9’’ broad jump,  4.23s short shuttle, 7.28s 3-cone and 27 bench reps at his Pro Day are all very mid numbers and this shows on tape.

O’Neill is a tenacious and relentless player who will outwork every player on the field, it’s clear to see why the Lions like him. He’s a decent run defender and remains very disciplined on option plays, keeping the quarterback in the pocket. For me he lacks the explosion to be a consistent pass rusher in the NFL, I also did not see him use many different pass rush moves, tends just to be a push-pull or a swim move. When he does use his hands, because of his sub-31-inch arms, they lack any sort of pop.

The question with O’Neill is what version of him are you getting, the 13-sack man from JMU, or the 2.5-sack man from Rutgers, unfortunately I lean towards the latter. Barring an injury, I don’t see a place on the 53 for him, maybe he usurps Ahmad Hassanein, but even that may not be enough, and I just think Hassanein is better. But we’ll see.

Anthony Lucas – Edge – USC

Lucas was regarded as a high-four or five-star recruit coming out of high school, he was part of Texas A&M's mega 2022 recruiting class. He spent one year with the Aggies before transferring to USC where he stayed for the remainder of his four-year college career. Now, during that time he has a grand total of 3 sacks, all coming in his senior year. Despite this lack of production, he was ranked as a top 150 player by consensus in this class with some analysts having him as high as the 60’s.

So why was he ranked so high with so little production? Well, for starters, he was built in a lab to play defensive end. At 6’5 ½’’ 260 lbs with 33 ½’’ arms and an 85’’ wingspan, you can’t get much more ideal measurements for the position. He was listed at 285 lbs over the summer so it’s unclear what weight he played at, but I don’t particularly like the fact that he chose not to complete any athletic testing at this lower weight at the Combine or his Pro Day. This echoes my concerns from his tape, he lacks explosion and bend to threaten the outside edge as a pass rusher, which maybe explains his lack of production. Lucas uses his length well to set an edge against the run but rarely makes the play himself, that’s not a negative necessarily, he’s playing his part for the team.

This signing reminds me a lot of when the Lions picked Da’Shawn Hand in the fourth round in 2018; both were top high school recruits who couldn’t put it all together in college. Hand had a great rookie year before injuries took their toll andhe is still in the league, heading into his ninth season as a pro. Similar to O’Neill, I don’t see a spot on the 53 for Lucas, but I’d love him to grab a place on the practice squad to learn and develop to see if he can make anything of that frame of his.  

Aidan Keanaaina – NT – Cal

A player I had never heard of, Keanaaina is a six-year player, who was trying to get another year of eligibility to play in 2026. He spent four years at Notre Dame where he played 11 games, before transferring to Cal where he has played for the last 2 years. Over these two years with the Golden Bears, he managed 26 games, 101 total tackles, 5 TFL’s and 2.5 sacks.

Keanaaina is an out-and-out nose tackle, listed at 6’3’’ and 320 lbs he has very little positional flexibility. With that size comes strength and power, which does flash on the tape that I watched. He uses that strength along with his length to good use in the run game, he’s able to stack well and relentlessly tries to get off the blocks, with mixed success. He is also inconsistent when taking on double teams, there are plays where he manages to split the linemen perfectly to get into the backfield, but there are too many occasions that he is pushed 4 or 5 yards off the line of scrimmage. In the pass game, he offers very little, he occasionally gets some push through the chest of the guard or centre, but he clearly has no pass rush plan at all.

To be honest, I don’t know what Brad and Co see in Keanaaina, he is a player that in my opinion needs a lot of work but is already at least 24 years old, I’m not sure he is an NFL player, for his sake, I hope I’m wrong. Normally I’d say he has no chance of making the roster, but with the apparent lack of depth at nose tackle, I just can’t rule it out, and according to sources, the Lions have given him a hefty $300,000 guaranteed.

Erick Hunter – LB – Morgan State

The one everyone is talking about, but our own Antony Fitzpatrick has been talking about ‘E40’ for ages. The 6’2’’ 224 lbs, redshirt senior has played 47 games for the Bears, in 2025 he amassed 102 total tackles, 14 TFL’s, 4 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and an interception. As the size suggests, Hunter has a slightly top-heavy, slender build with long limbs, nearly 34’’ arms, I would like him to add some more mass around his lower half.

So, lets talk about his athleticism, at his pro day Hunter ran a 4.48s forty (would have placed 3^rd amongst LB’s at the Combine) a 1.58s 10-yard split (joint 2^nd) 37’’ vertical (joint 11^th) a 10’10’’ broad jump (2^nd) 4.21s short shuttle (2^nd), admittedly, his 7.4s 3-cone would have been the slowest there, but hardly anyone runs that these days. I really like his tape too, he eats up the ground with his long legs, providing a real sideline to sideline presence, his long arms cause issues for offences in both facets of the game, he can disrupt passes that most wouldn’t get near, and in the run game, there are multiple times he managed to affect the tackle whilst engaged by a blocker. Now, he has to do this because, although he is a willing and aggressive player when taking on offensive linemen, he does get stuck on blocks but I think this can be taught, plus, playing behind the likes of Tyleik Williams and Alim McNeill, he should be kept a lot cleaner at the next level. Now, I think he reads the game very well, however there are times when he seems to guess or overpursue on a play, for me, a lot of that is down to Hunter trying to do too much, he was the best player on the field most weeks and everyone, including himself, knew it, he was just desperate to make a play.

As you can tell by the way I’ve waffled on about him here, I quickly became a massive fan once Ant put me onto him a couple of months ago, I am absolutely buzzing that he’s in Detroit. I can’t see a single reason why he wasn’t drafted, he’s got the production, athletic testing and tape, I ended up with a high sixth-round grade on Hunter. Even if he starts at the bottom of the linebacker depth chart as LB8, he only has a few places to climb to make the roster which I believe is a real possibility, even if he doesn’t after a year on the practice squad I expect him to make a real impact for the Lions.

De’Shawn Rucker – CB – USF

Rucker, who will turn 24 in December, is an outside cornerback, he is 6’0’’ 196 lbs. He has played five years in college, his first three at Tennessee before moving to USF. Rucker has limited ball production in his career, with only 12 PBU’s and 1 interception. At his Pro Day, he ran a 4.38s forty, jumped 37’’ in the vertical and 10’8’’ in the broad jump, all very middle of the pack, other than his forty which would have been good enough for joint 2^nd at the Combine.

Rucker’s speed shows on tape, he flies into the box on run support and screens, he likes to hit hard but this can lead to him being a little out of control at times. He is better in zone coverage or off-man than he is in press-man, in my opinion. Playing off or zone allows him to keep his eyes on the quarterback and diagnose the route concepts which he seems to do well, it also lets him show off that 4.38 speed when triggering downhill. In press man, he struggles to stay in phase with receivers out of their breaks, especially with routes that break over the middle of the field, he just doesn’t seem to be able to change direction well enough.

Overall, Rucker is a feisty cornerback who is aggressive against the run but lacks the change-of-direction skills to be sticky in coverage. I doubt he will make the roster in what is a crowded DB room. He will have to excel on special teams to stand a chance, I think.

Aamaris Brown – DB – UNLV

A six-year player, Brown is vastly experienced with 54 games over his three different teams, he spent two years at Kansas State, three years at USF where he was a teammate of De’Shawn Rucker, and his last year he played for the UNLV Rebels. Brown is 5’10’’ and 197 lbs and plays primarily in the slot, in 2025 he showed the knack of getting his hands on the ball with 7 PBU’s and 4 interceptions, 2 of which he took back to the house.

Although he didn’t test great at his Pro-Day, 4.53s forty and a 34.5’’ vertical jump, Rucker looks like an effortless and smooth mover on the field. He is able to stay in tight coverage on short and intermediate routes, and being a nickel defender, he is rarely tested vertically, which suits his game. Like all Detroit Lions defensive backs, he is aggressive against the run and flashes some ability to fight through blocks. When utilised as a blitzer, he shows impressive closing speed, if opposing quarterbacks cannot read the blitz pre-snap, then they are in trouble.

There’s not much in the tape that I watched to pick holes in, Rucker, who will turn 24 before the season starts, seems a well-rounded player with very few holes in his game, on the flip side, he doesn’t possess a specific trait he can hang his hat on. He’s a jack of all trades, master of none type player. I like what I’ve seen from Brown more than that of Rucker, but he has a similar issue, the room is crowded, but I am looking forward to seeing him play in the preseason.

Overall, it’s an intriguing UDFA class and I cannot wait to see them all in action. Realistically, I can only see a route to the roster for Kitselman and Hunter, and even they will have to overcome some stiff competition. I hope to see plenty of these guys at least make the practice squad in 2026.