Lions UDFA Anthony Lucas throwing hands and catching eyes

There's D.J. Wonnum, said Dan Campbell. And Derrick Moore. Payton Turner, too. Campbell was running through the Lions' revamped group of edge rushers last week -- noting their newfound "size and length and athletic ability on the perimeter" -- when he mentioned "this pup, Lucas."

The pup has some bite.

Anthony Lucas, the undrafted free agent out of USC, got into the grill of multiple offensive linemen during a walk-through portion of Tuesday's minicamp practice. He mixed it up with veteran Devin Cochran on consecutive plays after the whistle, eventually throwing hands with the 6'7 tackle before they were separated by coaches.

It didn't matter to Lucas that everyone was going half-speed, that no one was wearing pads, that walk-throughs are designed to be low-intensity. He felt like the O-linemen were trying to bully him, and he wasn't going to stand for it.

"I play with a big chip on my shoulder, especially coming into the situation I’m coming into. Gotta make sure I’m not getting looked down upon or nothing like that," Lucas said Wednesday. "Defense is still defense at the end of the day, and we run this sh*t on the field. Can’t let nobody try to step on us, none of that. Even if it’s walk-through, once the offense takes it up that notch, we’re going to make sure we’re right on top of that. Like, y’all not gonna be trying to walk over us. During the play it’s cool, but that after-play sh*t, do you really wanna do it? You can. I ain’t no stranger to it."

Lucas was once a five-star recruit in the class of 2022 with offers from just about every top program in the country. He wound up at Texas A&M before transferring to USC for his final three seasons. While he never quite lived up to the hype -- his three sacks in 12 games last season were the first three of his college career -- Lucas possesses the tools, the 6'5 frame and the 7' wingspan that could translate to the NFL.

Both Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers had a hard time believing Lucas went undrafted after checking out his film. Sheppard turned on the USC-LSU tape from Lucas' junior year and saw "a game-wrecker" against a pair of future NFL offensive tackles, including that year's fourth overall pick Will Campbell.

"Those are some pretty good players and he wrecked that game," said Sheppard. "So, he was a guy I had my radar up on, how did we get this guy undrafted?"

Lucas also points to his performance against Michigan and Penn State that season, which was cut short by a leg injury, and says his best games last season came against Nebraska, Michigan and Michigan State.

Rodgers said Wednesday that Lucas has been "a pleasant surprise for me" this spring.

"When we got him, one, when I was looking at him I didn’t think there was (any) way this guy was going to be available in free agency, just watching him play. And then he just started growing and moving up everybody’s list in the building and now that he’s here, he flashes some of the things that we saw on tape. Like, this guy’s got a chance. He’s really just scratching the surface. When you start looking at the skillset, you want as many of those type of guys as you can have."

Lucas was pegged as a late Day 3 pick or a priority free agent ahead of the draft, so it's not a total surprise he fell to the latter. Scouting reports question his speed and explosiveness, but not his power. If he can leverage his length to win with force, he's got a shot. He might be the ideal player to stash and develop on the practice squad. The right coaching staff could eventually turn his traits into production.

"I feel like I got a lot of things I can do," Lucas said, asked about his rush style, "from power to start it off, and then go into my bag, whether it’s jab work, long-arm work, stab work, spin moves. It’s a plethora of options I can pull from depending on who I’m going against, so I just watch film week to week and home in on matchups."

The real tests for Lucas will begin when the pads come on in camp. And given his play style, that's when he might really start to pop. He's caught the coaching staff's eye as it is, which is a good place to start for an undrafted rookie. He says he's over the fact that he didn't get drafted -- "it is what it is, at the end of the day" -- but he doesn't entirely sound like it, and he's not entirely acting like it on the field.

A little snarl is a good thing.

"I’m just here to show 'em I got a lot to prove," Lucas said. "I’m happy I did get the chance here, I know they’re going to take care of me as long as I show up every day willing to do everything it takes. it’s going to come in due time, I just gotta stay down, put my head down, do the work."