2026 Lions Undrafted Free Agent Spotlight: Erick Hunter
The Linebacker out of Morgan State has a lot to offer
Information sourced from: RAS, Pride of Detroit UDFA Tracker, Morgan State Athletics
Today we dig into an undrafted free agent that is a most curious case. Why is it such a curious case you ask? Because he was signed to a three year deal as an undrafted free agent. For the length of my fandom, I do not recall an undrafted free-agent ever being signed to a three year contract, let alone one with one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars guaranteed. Let’s dig in and see if we can figure out what the Lions see in him, and why they seem to think he is worthy of sticking around for the future.
Erick Hunter, LB, Morgan State
Ok, so the first thing that flies off the page is the accolades that Hunter racked up. I understand he may be going against a lower level of competition, but it’s pretty impressive:
In ONLY his red-shirt senior year (2025) he was:
2025 All-MEAC First Team
Boxtorow HBCU All-American Team
FCS Football Central All-American Third Team
Selected to play in The American Bowl
Selected to play in the HBCU Legacy Bowl
2025 HBCU Player of the year finalist
2025 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athelete Finalist
Buck Buchanan Award Finalist
MEAC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct 6)
Completed his last year at Morgan State 2nd all time in tackles
I could keep the accolades coming if we dug further into his years at Morgan State. It is very apparent that at his level of competition, he was dominant. Watching tape of him playing was almost addicting. He plays hard on every play that I saw, there was no quit in him. He tackles at the point of attack, and is not often made to lay himself out to tackle. He has decent coverage instincts from what I saw (a little lacking in tape on that one). Watching him rush the passer was a lot of fun, he was very fast and instinctive.
Looking at his stats further tells the story. He had a whopping ten and a half sacks, three interceptions, twelve passes deflected, and one hundred eighty three solo tackles. This young man is hungry and plays hard no matter what you do with him.
Furthermore looking into his athletic profile, he overall is an elite athlete. His speed and explosion are readily apparent when you watch him play and it is reflected in his ras. I was a bit surprised to see his three cone drill show up as low as it does, and I would argue he’s a little more than good in the agility space, but perhaps I am splitting hairs here.
Talking to MCBC, Silver & Blues contributor, he suggested something interesting in stating that he thought they may play Hunter as a Safety/Linebacker hybrid. I certainly can see why. His twelve passes deflected and three interceptions show he at least has something in his toolbelt when it comes to coverage. I am going to take it further and say they might use him as a jack of all trades on defense. The type of player that they can throw in at safety now and then, play behind the line at linebacker, or line him out wide to get at the passer and cause disruption. What he lacks in strength he can make up for with pure disruption with the explosion/speed combination.
It is always hard to evaluate prospects at lower levels of competition. However, I can certainly see what the Lions fell in love with. Add in the three year contract, and I think they see enough in this prospect that he will make the practice squad hands down (thats three for three during my exploration thus far). However, I also think he has a real shot at making the fifty three man roster.
Silver & Blues chance of making the Lions final roster: 6/10
Silver & Blues chance of making the Lions practice squad: 10/10