Luke Altmyer Is About to Get His Moment, But Let’s Not Go Full Disney Yet
When Teddy Bridgewater stepped down on Sunday, Lions fans immediately started penciling in Luke Altmyer as the backup. I get it. Hell, I understand it completely. There is nothing more fun in football than imagining the third-string kid turning into the guy. It’s pure sports movie stuff.
Then there’s Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant becomes a Pro Bowler and drags San Francisco to the Super Bowl. When Altmyer had some solid days at OTAs and minicamp, I think a lot of people started wondering if he could be that kind of story.
Anything is possible. But here’s the reality.
He Has Not Done Much Once the Pads Came On
I’ve been at training camp for two weeks now. I keep a notebook where I write down observations, players who catch my eye, moments worth remembering. Altmyer’s name has not appeared in that notebook once. Not because I don’t want it to, but because he just hasn’t done much since the real work started.
Once the pads came on and the pressure got real, the shine from spring faded fast.
Dan Campbell basically confirmed that on Sunday when he said Altmyer is not ready yet and could use a million reps. His exact words were kinder than that, sure, but the message was clear: this kid has a long way to go.
“Yeah, thought he did some really good things. He was put in some really tough positions for a young player that you absolutely have to be put in, you just do,” Campbell said. “You’ve got to be thrust in it and really you need to fail, you need to make mistakes so that you can grow. And we thought he handled it really well, we did. And there were some things. He had a delay of game, there were a couple of misreads. But man, that’s part of growth. But what you feel like right now, we’ll know a lot more when we get in the games, is it doesn’t feel too big to him right now. And that’s a great sign at that position. So, we’ll see, he’s got a long way to go and he just needs a million reps.”
Translation: he’s not falling apart, which is good. But he’s also not winning the backup job this week.
Thursday Against the Bengals Is His Shot
The best case scenario for Altmyer right now is convincing the front office to carry three quarterbacks instead of two. That’s the real goal here. With Joshua Dobbs brand new to the team and only able to get in one or two practices, Altmyer should get the bulk of the reps in the first preseason game against the Bengals on Thursday.
That’s a spot most guys in his position don’t get. It’s an opportunity born out of circumstance, not merit, but in the NFL you take what you can get.
If he has a perfect game and follows it up with perfect practices, maybe the conversation changes. Maybe. But right now, the QB2 job is a long shot. A really long shot.
Are we really about to Brock Purdy this kid or are we just setting ourselves up for disappointment again? Drop your take below.
