On Thursday, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was asked, yet again, about the defensive end position. Campbell gave a relatively boiler plate answer—noting that he likes that unit’s length this year—he did manage to sneak in a name that most fans and analysts aren’t talking about.
“But we have got some guys now, between (DJ) Wonnum and (Payton) Turner and this pup (Anthony) Lucas, obviously (Derrick) Moore,” Campbell said. “We’ve got some length now, we’ve got some size and length and athletic ability
on the perimeter.”
The fact that Campbell came up with undrafted rookie Anthony Lucas’ name before second-round pick Derrick Moore may mean something. It may mean nothing. But it certainly caught the ear of the media in attendance. Minutes later, when defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard met stepped to the lectern, he was asked specifically about Lucas, and the team’s intrigue in that player was confirmed.
“I turned on his junior film and USC and legitimately it was against LSU and he was a game wrecker,” Sheppard said.
If you were to look at the box score of that game, Lucas’ performance wouldn’t stand out. He was credited with just two tackles in the Trojans’ 27-20 come-from-behind victory over the Tigers. However, the tape shows something different. Often lined up against LSU left tackle Will Campbell—who became the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft—Lucas produced three quarterback pressures and forced Campbell to have the second-worst PFF grade of his three-year college career (50.9).
[You can watch the film of that game here; Lucas is #6 for USC]
“If people go back, those two tackles that played at LSU that year, they both–one of them [Campbell] was the number four pick and the other [Emery Jones] went in the third round,” Sheppard said. “Those are some pretty good players and he wrecked that game. So, as a guy I had my radar up on how did we get this guy undrafted?”
To be fair, Lucas’ overall college career beyond that game hasn’t been as notable. After transferring from Texas A&M to USC in 2023, he produced just 63 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, and 3.0 sacks over three seasons with the Trojans. It’s a far cry from expectations of a five-star recruit, but Detroit is hoping they can extract the potential out of a player who once had such high promise and comes with an NFL-prototypical build (6-foot-5 1/2 with an 85 1/8-inch wingspan).
It’s far too early in the offseason program to see how he’ll compete at the NFL level. There’s no full contact allowed yet and the pads haven’t come on, either. Additionally, he’s got a revamped defensive end room to contend against. Completementing Aidan Hutchinson this year will be DJ Wonnum, Derrick Moore, Payton Turner, and Ahmed Hassanein, among others. It won’t be easy to crack the roster, but Detroit is known for actually handing the job to those who earn it, so don’t count out Lucas this summer.
