Luke Altmyer may give Josh Dobbs a run for his money at the QB2 spot

Luke Altmyer was faced with a massive opportunity following the latest Teddy Bridgewater retirement announcement (he’s stepped away a couple of times now). The undrafted rookie quarterback out of Illinois had an opportunity to win the Lions’ backup quarterback job behind Jared Goff.

Although the Lions signed Josh Dobbs to replace Bridgewater almost immediately, Altmyer still faced a major opportunity that he probably didn’t expect to have after the 2026 NFL Draft concluded.

Going seven rounds just to not hear your name called has to be demoralizing, but Altmyer quickly signed a deal with the Lions as an undrafted free agent, where he expected to be the third option, at best, for the Super Bowl hopefuls. He responded by putting together a solid start to training camp, and then he got an opportunity to play extended snaps in the Lions’ first exhibition game at Cincinnati.

Altmyer looked solid even though he had two interceptions, but Isaac Teslaa owes him dinner for one of those picks since it bounced off his facemask and into the waiting arms of a Bengals defender.

Other than that, he looked like a solid backup option. He still made some rookie mistakes, like his one actual interception, but he finished 13-for-22 with 130 yards and a touchdown, including this really impressive throw against a different look from the Bengals’ defense:

The Lions need someone to step up and win the backup quarterback battle, and it looks like that might just be the undrafted rookie out of Illinois who began his career at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin.

Dobbs played sparingly, likely because he’s still learning a new playbook, and he finished 4-of-8 for 65 yards. He didn’t have a touchdown or an interception, but he was decent in his limited action after watching Altmyer pass for 130 with a score.

It’s still really early on, but Altmyer looked a lot better than a lot of us expected for his first game in a Lions uniform after a solid career at Illinois.

The entire preseason will be an audition for Luke Altmyer

Altmyer may have had some rookie mistakes and hiccups in the preseason opener, but he’s going to have a couple more chances to prove himself as the worthy backup to Goff.

Unfortunately, Dobbs is likely already penciled in as the backup because he’s proven himself as a backup quarterback in the NFL, so Altmyer is facing a long, uphill battle. He will probably start the season as QB3, but if he keeps improving and playing the way he did against the Bengals while Dobbs played the way he did, it’s going to be tough for Dan Campbell to keep Altmyer down on the depth chart.

Strong preseason opener for the rookie, but there’s a lot of work to do. Dobbs isn’t going to just let Altmyer pass him up on the depth chart, so he’s going to have to be near-perfect for the next two preseason games.

Altmyer is no stranger to proving himself. He did it throughout his college career.

Now he’ll do it again.

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