Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, Detroit Lions defensive lineman Al-Quadin Muhammad has earned laurels based on his performance against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night in the Lions’ thrilling 38-30 win. Because it was no automatic shot that he’d even be on the field.
40 days.
That’s how long veteran defensive lineman Al-Quadin
Muhammad had to wait for an NFL opportunity after the Dallas Cowboys waived him on Aug. 28, 2024, before the Detroit Lions signed him to their practice squad on Oct. 7. More than a month went by before an NFL team signed the 2017 sixth-round pick of the New Orleans Saints, and anybody could have had him.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell was in his second season as the Saints’ tight ends/assistant head coach in 2017, so that explains the familiarity. But given Muhammad’s circuitous journey to his current place, one could be forgiven for thinking that the NFL was basically done with him.
Muhammad was waived by the Saints in October of his second NFL season. The Indianapolis Colts had three shots at him in 2018, 2021, and 2023 — and declined to make a long-term commitment each time. The Chicago Bears gave him a cup of coffee in 2022, but he didn’t hang around for the full breakfast. The Dallas Cowboys had him last before the Lions took a shot — they signed him on Aug. 1, 2024, and cut him on Aug. 28, leading to that 40-day purgatory.
To be fair, Muhammad didn’t always make it easy. He was ejected from a Colts game in Week 10 of the 2020 season for punching Tennessee Titans left tackle Ty Sambrailo, and he was suspended six games in December, 2023 for violating the NFL’s policy on Performance Enhancing Drugs.
On the other side of the equation, the 6’3, 250-pound Muhammad has shown flashes before. In 2021, for the Colts, he amassed seven sacks and 37 total pressures in 457 pass-rushing snaps, and that was his best season to date.
Through three games in the 2025 season, and especially after what he did to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night, Muhammad doesn’t just have an NFL home now — he’s chipping in for serious upgrades. As much as some decried the Lions’ quiet approach to acquiring premium pass-rushers in free agency and the draft this offseason, you can now understand why Campbell and his coaches were like the parents who told their kids that they didn’t need to spend money at McDonalds — because “we have that at home.”
Against the Ravens in that 38-30 Monday night win, Muhammad didn’t just rack up three sacks and five total pressures in just 24 pass-rushing snaps — he did so from multiple gaps, foiling four of the five Baltimore offensive linemen he went up against.
The Lions saw this coming after Muhammad had a sack and three total pressures against the Chicago Bears in Week 2 in 25 pass-rushing snaps.
“Yeah, well look, the guy — bringing it up again, he had a really good camp and he just continues to do things for us,” Campbell said last week. “He’s crafty, he’s strong, he’s got some explosiveness, and he plays hard. God, he plays hard. I mean, there was a number of plays — I can think of three right now — where he is running out of the stack. He’s running out of — ball is thrown, screen, and he is running to try to get the ball or making a tackle. And it’s that kind of effort with what he’s got ability-wise that gives you a chance. So, he’s been big for us, and he’s going to get more of a role. He’s earned that.”
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard agreed, and pumped Muhammad up in his Sept. 19 press conference.
“Yeah, I told you guys Week 1 he was slated to get more. He played 47 snaps, last game we played [it was] 70, so he was right there in the target range where we saw him in having a role. And he’s done what I’ve seen him do since Day 1 of training camp. He’s come in here with nothing promised to him; he didn’t even know if he was making the team. That’s an eight, nine-year vet playing in the preseason all-out. Just go turn on the preseason games and tell me what you see from No. 96. It’s the same thing we’re seeing now.
“So, as we move forward, on and on, it has nothing to do with who’s available, who’s not available. If you’re available for the game and you show us you’ve earned the right to be out there and get a role, we’re going to find that role for you. And the better you do, the more that role will uptick for you. But he’s been phenomenal, it has nothing to do with ability, look at the effort he plays with. That is the identity of the Detroit Lions defense. Forget the stats, forget any of that stuff, just talk to me about Muhammad’s effort, and that is the standard for the Lions defense.”
After the Ravens game, Muhammad expressed just how grateful he was for this opportunity. This is where the effort comes from, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Waiting 40 days to hear if your career is over or not tends to add a little edge to your playing style.
