Morgan State linebacker Erick Hunter signs with Lions after standout season
Hunter led the MEAC with 102 tackles and 14 TFL in 2025, then landed with Detroit as another Morgan State defender on an NFL track. His 90-yard blocked-kick return and 298 career tackles sold the Lions on upside.
Erick Hunter turned a dominant season at Morgan State into an NFL opportunity, signing with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent and earning a shot to compete for a spot on the team’s final roster. The move came after a 2025 campaign that put the linebacker among the most productive defenders in the MEAC and gave Detroit a close look at a player whose production traveled well beyond the HBCU stage.
Hunter’s numbers explained the interest. He started all 12 games in 2025 and led the conference with 102 total tackles, including 53 solo stops. He also piled up 14 tackles for loss, four sacks, five quarterback hurries, four forced fumbles and an interception, a stat line that showed he could finish plays at the line of scrimmage, chase from the second level and create turnovers. Named the 2025 MEAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Hunter backed up the label with one of the most complete defensive seasons in the league.
He also delivered one of Morgan State’s most memorable plays of the year against Norfolk State, when he returned a blocked kick 90 yards for a touchdown. That score underscored the kind of impact play Detroit was buying into: a linebacker with the range to clean up run fits, the instincts to disrupt backfields and the athleticism to swing a game in a single snap. Hunter finished his Morgan State career with 298 tackles, good for second on the school’s all-time list, a number that speaks to both durability and sustained production.
The postseason recognition followed the tape. Hunter collected Stats Perform All-America Second Team honors, Phil Steele All-America Third Team honors, an FCS Football Central All-American nod, All-MEAC First Team recognition, a Buck Buchanan Award finalist spot, a BOXTOROW HBCU All-America selection and an invitation to The American Bowl. He had already been working his way onto NFL radars before the draft, participating in the HBCU Showcase and International Player Pathway Pro Day at the Washington Commanders’ practice facility in Ashburn, Virginia, on March 30.
For Morgan State, Hunter’s signing continued a small but meaningful trend. He became the second Bears player in as many seasons to reach the NFL, following Elijah Williams, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2025 and later made their 53-man active roster. Pre-draft scouting had already pegged Hunter as the No. 5 FCS prospect in the 2026 draft and noted the rarity of that kind of attention for a Morgan State defender. The Lions canceled rookie minicamp in 2026, so Hunter’s path into Detroit’s offseason program will look different, but the opportunity is the same: prove that Morgan State’s defense is producing NFL-ready talent.
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