Cracking the 53-man roster for a team that has been as successful as the Detroit Lions have been in recent years is never an easy thing to accomplish. It is even greater when the player in question is an outsider.
For one local product trying to make the team this offseason, that is a reality they are now facing. Detroit announced a series of roster moves on Thursday afternoon, with one hometown hero being waived before camp even begins.
Lions Quickly Ushered Out Rookie RB Anthony Tyus III to Start Camp
Rookies reported to training camp on July 16 and former University of Ohio running back Anthony Tyus III was among the undrafted free agents looking to make a name for themselves in training camp. Unfortunately for the Portage, Mich. product, his stay at camp wasn't a long one as he was waived by the team on Thursday.
The following players are declared physical unable to perform:
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) July 17, 2025
OT Taylor Decker, CB Khalil Dorsey, OG Miles Frazier, DL Alim McNeill, LB Malcolm Rodriguez, DL Mekhi Wingo
The following players are declared non-football injury:
DL Josh Paschal, CB Stantley Thomas-Oliver
The… pic.twitter.com/6cMCdWaWv8
With the entire four-man running back room from the 2024 season under contract and expected to return this fall, making the roster was always going to be an uphill battle for Tyus III. Given how much of the rushing load Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery carry, with Craig Reynolds and 2024 fourth-round draft pick Sione Vaki set to return for the 2025 campaign, Tyus III would have needed to put on an all-time display in camp to force his way onto the roster. Now, he won't even have that chance.
Being waived because of a non-football illness will be a tough pill to swallow for the Michigan native. With all the work he had to put in throughout his collegiate career to make his initial camp invite even possible, this outcome is the last thing Tyus or his friends and family could have hoped for.
After gaining 1,234 yards and scoring nine total touchdowns during his lone season with the Ohio Bobcats, the decision made by Tyus III to transfer from Northwestern University to receive more playing time was proven to be the right one. It got him into camp with the Lions, albeit for a much shorter stay than he would have preferred, and will hopefully get him an opportunity elsewhere in the league.
For the Lions, it will be full steam ahead into training camp with the quartet that made up last year's rushing attack looking primed to run it back again in 2025.