ALLEN PARK — Grant Stuard has never turned down an opportunity on the football field. It started in high school and when he played in college at Houston. It’s no different now with the Lions, starting his fifth NFL season and first in Detroit.
He describes it as a “mad random” deal. He was moved to fullback in his first year (2022) with the Colts and moved around in college and high school.
He’s officially listed as a linebacker on the Lions’ roster but he excels at special teams. He played 73 percent of the Colts special teams snaps in 2024.
Since signing as a free agent with the Lions in the offseason, a new wrinkle has been added to his special teams chores. He’s been working as a kick returner with four returns totalling 112 yards in two of the first three preseason games.
Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp was on the lookout for the position and after watching Stuard’s film from college, decided to give him a shot.
“Anytime you bring a player in, you kind of watch everything they’ve done in the history that we have on film. There was some film from him at Houston where he was running the ball, and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, like this looks pretty good right here,’’ Fipp said on Tuesday.
“So that’s what really started the idea and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not sure who the guy is going to be.’ This is a bigger body guy, physical. Looked like he had some natural skillset to do it, and then we fumbled the opening kickoff,’’ Fipp said.
Indeed Stuard fumbled and lost the ball on the opening kickoff of the preseason Hall of Fame game, opening the door for a quick Chargers’ touchdown. After that score Fipp threw him back in and he returned that next kickoff for 36 yards, holding on tight.
“He showed a bunch of great things and then it said to us, ‘OK, now we got to invest more time in him, to be fair to him and help him with ball security, and stuff like that.’ But it’s now worth the investment because of what he’s shown,’’ Fipp said. “So, we’re excited about him.”
In turn Stuard has embraced the role.
“The longer I play football, the more I understand the threat of a dynamic guy with the ball in his hands. Me knowing, as a cover guy or defensive guy, I’d kind of rather play the guys who want to get sideways because, 1, I’m fast, but 2 if you have a guy who’s as fast as Ja (Jahmyr Gibbs) and he’s slicing through your defense, now he’s at the second level immediately,” Stuard said. “I kind of have that same mentality with the ball in my hand as far as if I can slice through, slice through, slice through, eventually I’m going to get through one-on-one with the safety with all my momentum, it should be something good for the Detroit Lions.’’
He’s gotten plenty of work in training camp, noting that he loves how much time the Lions spend practicing special teams.
“I think just my experience, just as a player, and being around guys who are super-talented and guys who are super-skilled has allowed me to just understand what coach wants from me with the ball in my hands,’’ said Stuard who is 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds.
He thinks the new kickoff rules suit his game.
“If the goal is to get to the 30 I believe in myself getting to the 30 every time just off momentum,’’ Stuard said. “I can run into you at the 20, we’re going to go that way because I’m not running soft or too timid or too visiony, I might take that first gap. I’m trying to mature my game now to where maybe that first gap is tempting, but it’s meant to go here so keep on going over there even if it takes a little longer.’’
UP NEXT: The Lions will hold a joint practice with the Houston Texans on Thursday, before their final preseason game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Ford Field.
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