Luke Altmyer left Illinois as the program's fifth all-time passing yards leader and one of its all-time winningest quarterbacks.
A crafty quarterback with deft footwork and a knack for making the right play at the right time, Altmyer led the Fighting Illini to a 9-4 season in 2025 including a Music City Bowl game victory over the Tennessee Volunteers.
Altmyer lost his starting job to newcomer Joshua Dobbs for preseason game number two against the Washington Commanders at Ford Field, but still played well, giving Lions coach Dan Campbell more to think about in the race to back up Jared Goff this season.
Earlier this week, Campbell assessed Altmyer's performance and laid out a road map for improvement moving forward.
Aug 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Luke Altmyer(2) looks to pass against the Washington Commanders at Ford Field. Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images Roster Trim, QB Decision ComingThe Lions have less than a week to trim their roster to 53 players and Altmyer is feeling the heat.
Recent addition Joshua Dobbs started this past Saturday's game vs. Washington, playing fairly well while throwing one interception.
Altmyer backed him up and led the Lions in passing.
Campbell took issue with the way the Dobbs-led Lions started the game.
"Certainly, you don't want to start the game the way we did," Campbell said.
"Now, that's not all on (Dobbs), we didn't pick up the protection the way we should.
"When he came out in the second half...I thought Dobbs did some really good things," Campbell added.
Dobbs finished with 7-of-12 completions for 74 yards and one interception. He also ran twice for 53 yards.
Altmyer finished with 9-for-13 completions and 86 yards.
Campbell will choose between the two players when he names his official second string quarterback.
Campbell Praises Altmyer's VisionAltmyer's vision on the football field was praised by Campbell, who laid out what he feels the former Illinois Fighting Illini star must do to be successful at the NFL level.
He sounded optimistic about Altmyer's chances to develop into a quality NFL player in an article written by Richard Silva of The Detroit News.
"Altmyer, I still think he sees the field really well," Campbell said. "There's just a couple of things that got on him. It's always going to be about, for him, just playing a little bit faster.
"Can he play faster? I know he can play faster. He just needs reps, and the more reps he gets, the better he is."
Altmyer blamed himself for sacks he took that knocked the Lions out of field goal range, and indicated he is ready for more coaching going forward.
"I like to be coached," he said.
"I need to be coached hard. I need to be. Each play, there's something to learn on, with the mechanics and operation, my feet, my drop, seeing the field and playing together as a unit.
"Get better, that's the goal. The goal is not to achieve some result, the goal is to get better every single day."
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