Luke Altmyer thought he did enough in his three seasons at Illinois to get drafted, and when he wasn’t?
“Sick to my stomach.”
“It hurt,” Altmyer said. “It was very painful. It was almost torturous at times and to see the picks go off the board knowing that and expecting to get picked, it was difficult.”
But six weeks after he felt he let down the small group of friends and family that gathered for a draft party at his home in Mississippi, Altmyer has come to peace with his draft day snub and found motivation in his new role as the Detroit Lions’ No. 3 quarterback.
The Lions signed Altmyer as an undrafted free agent immediately after the draft to a contract that included a full practice squad salary guarantee ($247,500).
He’s taken third-team reps at OTAs this spring behind Jared Goff and Teddy Bridgewater and is in good position to earn a spot on the practice squad this fall with an outside chance of cracking the 53-man roster.
“I dreamed about [getting drafted] all my life and I worked hard for it and I knew I deserved it and I earned it,” Altmyer said after the Lions’ sixth practice of OTAs this week. “It didn’t happen, man, but I knew it’s going to be for the good of me and it’s molding me and it’s growing my character.”
Altmyer said the Lions were one of several teams – he declined to name the others – who wooed him during the post-draft signing period, and he picked Detroit in part because of the opportunity to be the No. 3 quarterback and apprentice under the two veterans in front of him.
Goff is the unquestioned starter and Bridgewater is his clear backup, but the Lions do not have a fourth quarterback on the roster and Altmyer said he’s “getting a lot of reps, I’m learning and I’m seeing how it’s paying off.”
“He doesn’t lack confidence, for sure,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “What we thought he would be at this point, I would say it’s kind of held true. And what I mean by that is, man, he’s able to kind of retain the information we’ve given him so far. I feel like he’s getting a little bit better every day, talk about the processing speed of the quarterback. He’s got a lot on his plate, but he knows what the calls are, he knows where guys are supposed to be, the shifts, the motions. And that’s good. For a young guy, that’s really good. So, we’ll see when it really gets going.”
Altmyer was one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the draft with 36 career starts, including 35 at Illinois the past three seasons.
He started his college career at Ole Miss and left for Illinois after losing the starting job to current New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart as a sophomore.
He completed more than 60% of his passes in all three of his seasons at Illinois, led the Illini to a 10-3 record in 2024 – tied for the most wins in franchise history – and played for Lions assistant coach Marques Tuiasosopo at this year’s Senior Bowl.
That relationship helped cement Altmyer’s decision to sign with the Lions as an undrafted free agent, and Altmyer said he was intrigued by the possibility of playing for new coordinator Drew Petzing.
Petzing worked closely with mobile Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray the past three seasons. Altmyer ran for 12 touchdowns at Illinois.
“Kyler’s obviously a lot faster than me and more mobile and one of the more mobile quarterbacks we ever seen, but I can live in that world a little bit,” Altymer said. “I’m creative in the pocket, I can mix it up run and pass.”
Petzing said he’s been impressed with Altmyer’s “unflappable” demeanor on the practice field and in meetings.
“Every day he’s the same guy, he puts in the same process,” Petzing said. “He works, he never seems overwhelmed by what we’re asking him to do or how we’re asking him to do it and he’s willing to learn and to work at it, which has been great.”
Altmyer said that approach is what helped him come quickly to grips with going undrafted and refocus his attention on winning a job with the Lions.
“I truly expected to get picked for sure,” he said. “I had heard that it was going to happen. Had a lot of good draft grades from a lot of teams and so yeah, I was sitting there watching it rattle off and had my phone right there and it just wasn’t ringing. And I was sick to my stomach, man, because I had a lot of people who wanted it for me and I was going to be happy for them if it happened.
“But at the end of the day, I’m on an NFL team, I’m in a great situation, a great spot, around a lot of great people. And a good team. These guys win and they’re going to continue to do that, so I’m very happy to be here, happy to be in in the Midwest and play in a great division. It’ll be fun.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Luke Altmyer: Going undrafted ‘painful,’ but fueling him with Lions
Reporting by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
