Why Grant Stuard took tougher path to playing time by signing deal with Detroit Lions
Grant Stuard had options in free agency, offers to go to other teams with more clear paths to playing time on defense.
But after finally cracking the linebacker rotation with the Indianapolis Colts last season, Stuard picked a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions, where he'll be a core special teams player and likely start down the depth chart at linebacker.
"It was an easy choice, for sure," Stuard told reporters at his introductory news conference Thursday. "It is one of those things where talking to my agents, it's not like other situations I may have had where maybe it was an easier path to the field or an easier path to maybe being the No. 1 guy on a unit or something like that.
"He’s like, 'Oh yeah, they got some players over there.' I'm like, 'Well, that's good. I want to be around guys who are attacking the day the way I attack the day.' And so excited about that, for sure."
The last pick of the 2021 draft — aka, "Mr. Irrelevant" — Stuard has carved out a niche as one of the most reliable special teams players in the NFL, both as a rookie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the past three years with the Colts.
He made the first five starts of his career last year and had an impressive 19-tackle game in the first of those starts in an October win over the Miami Dolphins. But Stuard said signing with the Lions was "less about getting as many snaps as I can on a team versus wanting to be the best player that I can be."
"I think that my mindset definitely shifted to that area when I got a lot of play time," he said. "Mindset definitely shifted to that area when I got my first shot at defense as a rookie and to be honest, was not ready. And it was like, 'Well, do I want to play every snap of this game?' I want to be the best. I want to improve my game. I want to feel like I'm not good enough to play in the league, I want to feel like I'm one of the best on the defensive field if I'm touching the field on defense."
In Detroit, Stuard he believes he's joining a like-minded defense and linebacker room, something he felt up close in the Lions' 24-6 win over the Colts last November.
Stuard made three tackles at linebacker that game and played 17 snaps on special teams, and he was impressed with how the Lions maximized their personnel. Six linebackers played 11 or more defensive snaps that game for the Lions: Jack Campbell, Malcolm Rodriguez, Trevor Nowaske, David Long, Ezekiel Turner and Ben Niemann.
“I got to see a little bit of that when I was in Indy as far as we’d played a Lamar Jackson or something and I'd come in and maybe add to the blitz package or spy him or something like that," Stuard said. "And so that's something that they said that they do here. And at the end of the day, I'm going to compete. And if it’s a situation where if I'm not getting a lot of play time on a great team, that's just inspiring for me to improve versus I can go to a team maybe not as good, but a team with a room that has a lot more question marks than this team, which I had some opportunities to do that."
Campbell, Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes return as starting linebackers for the Lions in 2025, with Rodriguez, Nowaske and Turner back as backups. Anzalone and Barnes missed the Colts game last season with injuries, and Rodriguez is recovering from a torn ACL and could miss the start of the season.
Stuard he's "excited about adding value" to the Lions in any way possible and described his play style as one that embodies "relentless effort."
"Play style is definitely crash out," he said. "Doing what I have to do to make the plays to help the team win, whether that's setting up a play for somebody else, whether that's making a play myself, whether that's running through the fullback space, whether that's playing fullback if you need me to. Just open to whatever to help the team win."
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline," at 7 p.m., March 24, at the Birmingham Public Library.
Order your copy here.
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions LB Grant Stuard took tougher path to playing time with Detroit
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