The Detroit Lions are off and running with their preparations for the 2025 regular season as their first exhibition game of the fall is in the books.
Position battles are taking place up and down the roster. Still, one competition brewing on the special teams unit could be more intriguing than others due to the differences between the players fighting for the starting job.
Specifically, we are discussing the free agent addition at linebacker who is now in the thick of things as the training camp battle for the starting kick returner role for the defending NFC North champions.
Lions' Grant Stuard Preparing for Unexpected Return Role in New Season
Before last week's Hall of Fame Game, Grant Stuard had returned one kick during his collegiate career, and that happened during the 2018 season. So, it has been a while since the linebacker has been set up as a return man, and, honestly, it looked that way in his first go-round at the position as he fumbled the opening kickoff while being taken to the ground.
Fortunately for Stuard, his second try was much more successful as he had a 36-yard return on the Los Angeles Chargers' kickoff following their first score of the game. After being placed in this role by the coaching staff because of his speed and fearless approach to the game, Stuard knows that his past experiences on the special teams unit with the Indianapolis Colts, where he spent his first four seasons in the NFL, will help him make this transition to being a return specialist.
“I know what's hard to play against as a kickoff guy, as a punt guy, is somebody who's slicing through it right now rather than trying to bubble around the whole thing,” Stuard said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “And a lot of times when you slice through it like that, you get a lot of yards or you get the mess hit out of you. And I think I'm a body type that can withstand those blows and fight through some of that contact. But it's all about the ball.”
Protecting the ball is paramount in the return game as turnovers on kickoff or punt returns can be a backbreaker for any team, let alone one with the expectations the Lions have. Bringing this approach to the position battle will only help Stuard's chances as he competes against rookie WR Dominic Lovett, punt returner Kalif Raymond, and cornerback Terrion Arnold.
In addition to his work with the return team, Stuard is working to make the roster as a linebacker, and he fared well in that area in Detroit's first exhibition game. In 17 snaps with the defensive unit, Stuard sacked Chargers QB Trey Lance as one of his four total tackles, two of which came for a loss.
There are no guarantees that Stuard wins one of these return jobs at the end of training camp but the work he is putting in now will help him, and, in turn, Detroit's special teams unit throughout the season. Even if he doesn't win this job, these new experiences will just make Stuard a more effective player in return coverage.
This will undoubtedly be a training camp competition worth following for the remainder of the preseason.