ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Since signing with Detroit in April, Erick Hunter‘s life has revolved around one place: the Lions‘ practice facility.

Most days begin around 5 a.m. and don’t end until about 7 p.m. The 23-year-old makes the trip from his hotel to practice, stays for extra reps, studies film with linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton and squeezes in additional workouts before heading back for the night.

The routine is built around one goal.

After going undrafted out of Morgan State earlier this year, Hunter is trying to earn a spot on Detroit’s 53-man roster. He enters Saturday’s preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts knowing it could be his final chance to make his case before roster cuts.

“My mentality is just, put it on tape. There’s nothing else to really talk about no more,” Hunter told Andscape. “Just put it on tape. I’m already dialed in at this point.”

Hunter’s rise through football has been anything but conventional. A lifelong Washington Commanders fan, he played offense as a high schooler in Waldorf, Maryland, and the COVID-19 pandemic limited him to just two seasons on the field.

He didn’t move to defense until getting to college, meaning he’s played linebacker for only four seasons.

Despite the position change, Morgan State head coach Damon Wilson said Hunter’s athleticism and ability to absorb coaching helped him become one of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s top linebackers. Hunter was a cornerstone of the Bears’ defense as an upperclassman, being named first-team All-MEAC twice and earning a finalist spot for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented annually to the top defensive player in FCS football.

Hunter said playing in the MEAC helped shape the mindset that carried him to the NFL.

“Playing at an HBCU, mentality-wise, it helped, because you don’t have all the tools and all the resources and necessities that you might need to play at a super-duper high level there, and therefore it puts you in a stronger mentality,” Hunter said. “It puts you in the mindset to just grind, go out and get it, and make it happen, no matter what hand or cards you were dealt.”

Wilson said he knew Hunter was destined to play professional football during his redshirt season in 2024 after a shoulder injury.

Although he couldn’t play, Hunter asked to dress with the team and did so for every game, participating in warm-up drills and coaching younger players on the sideline; all traits Wilson saw would serve the linebacker well. As he redshirted, Hunter sat in on defensive coaches’ meetings and in the booth during games, which Wilson believes helped Hunter come back as a more complete football player the next season.

“When he had an opportunity to get back on the field, he was a lot more, honestly, hungrier, but he was a lot more knowledgeable,” Wilson said. “He saw the game through a different lens just by having that time off. … He saw the mental work that we put in as well, and I think he really benefited from that.”

Returning to the Bears for his graduate senior season, Hunter often stayed late enough that he was the last player in the building, sometimes locking up the facility for director of football operations Gerald Huggins.

The extra hours paid dividends — Hunter tallied 102 total tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and one interception during his final campaign in Baltimore.

And that same lock-in mentality has followed him to Detroit, where the long days at the Lions’ facility are less of an adjustment and more of an extension of the habits he built in college.

“Some kids think they care, but he really cares about being great to the point where he would literally do the most to make sure that every little finite detail is taken care of,” Huggins said. “He would come visit [me in my office], and he would just be up in there till it’s dark outside and watching film, and then we just would talk about what scouts are looking for and other linebackers that they’re comparing them against. He just was so determined and cared so much. You just got a root for a kid like that.”

At the HBCU Combine in March, Hunter impressed scouts with his athleticism and versatility. He also met with all 32 NFL teams. Measuring at 6-foot-2, 224 pounds, the 23-year-old ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash, which would’ve been the third-fastest among linebackers at the NFL Combine.

“You can rank his athleticism with other linebackers in the NFL, he’s right up there,” Huggins said. “If you want to go pound for pound, number for number, his athleticism and the ability to process information, understand and learn and study like a pro, it was night and day.”

After going undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, Hunter emerged as a priority undrafted free agent, drawing interest from dozens of teams immediately after the draft.

But Detroit stood out to him because of its winning culture and the clear vision the coaching staff had for his development, particularly after Hamilton outlined his plan for Hunter’s rookie year. For Hunter, the opportunity to join a team with legitimate playoff aspirations made the Lions an easy choice. Wilson was pleased when he saw Hunter signed with the Lions.

“I think that’s a good fit for him, not just schematically, but you know, personnel-wise and everything,” Wilson said. “He’s going to get his turn. He’s going to get his turn, and he has an opportunity. One thing we always talk about is taking advantage of your opportunities. He’s in camp, so he has an opportunity. He’s, so far, taking advantage of it, and at the end of the day, his name wasn’t called on draft day, but it’s called when that 53-man roster is finalized; that’s the ultimate goal.”

Hunter said the first week of OTAs was about getting back into the rhythm of playing football after spending months focused on combine preparations. And over the last few weeks of OTAs, Hunter has been challenged daily by Hamilton and Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, who has pushed him throughout practices and preseason games.

“It’s nice to have coaches that you know just care about you and want to see the best out of you,” Hunter said. “I definitely feel like I get that from Coach Ham and Coach Shep, so I definitely appreciate them and, you know, everything they’re pouring into me right now.”

Hunter said he tries not to make the same mistake twice, using each rep as a lesson while leaning on veterans such as Trevor Nowaske, Damone Clark, Devin White and others in the linebackers room as he adjusts to the demands of the NFL.

“I just try to take a page out of their book and just use it to my advantage and innovate whatever they can give me,” Hunter said. “Whether it’s recover or defensive progressions on the field or how they eat their breakfast or what they go home and do at night, I like all those different things. I just try to pick everybody’s brain and just see what’s the best tool for me.”

Since the start of OTAs, he has leaned on his former college teammate and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Elijah Williams throughout the predraft process, seeking advice and perspective because Williams followed the same path a year earlier as an undrafted rookie trying to make the roster. Hunter said Williams’ straightforward approach helped him stay grounded and avoid overthinking the process.

“It’s going to sound crazy, but I say this best advice from him came back in probably July when I was talking to him between OTAs and a training camp. … He said, ‘It’s just football, man.’ I don’t know why, [but] that stuck with me,” Hunter said. “It’s the same game I’ve been playing since I was a kid. ‘It’s just football,’ so, and that’s literally how simple it was.”

Through preseason and training camp, Hunter has played weakside linebacker and tallied some snaps on special teams. In his first preseason outing against the Bengals, Hunter tallied four tackles. In the second game against his hometown team, the Commanders, he primarily played on special teams and recovered a fumble, capturing the attention of the Lions’ defensive coordinator.

“He’s just a superior athlete for the position, especially the guy’s background as a DB, so that stuff’s going to transition well for him in the league,” Sheppard said. “It’s just the physicality, the box stuff that he needs to develop, which he will. He’s done a tremendous job. He’s off to a fast start, so I’m very optimistic about him.”

While the transition to the NFL remains a learning process, Hunter believes he can provide depth at linebacker and become a reliable special teams contributor if he earns a roster spot.

“I’m going to be a player that’s going to run around the field, fly around, be fast, and poised in chaos. At the end of the day, I’m a football player, and that’s as big as I can say it,” Hunter said. “Like, you’ll enjoy watching me play, especially when the game slows down. I’m going to just speed up even crazier, and go to a whole new level. It’ll be a sight to see.”

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