Undrafted Free Agents (UDFA) are a fun group of players for fans to follow, always looking for the next diamond in the rough. Seemingly every year a player breaks through and the next Zach Zenner, Kerry Hyder, Christian Jones, or DeShawn Shead emerges.

This year, among the UDFA group that signed with the Detroit Lions, Southeast Missouri State JACK linebacker Chad Meredith was a name that immediately jumped out.

At 6-4.5, 251 Meredith has the prototypical size to fit a linebacker role in Coach Patricia’s scheme, but his athleticism (FULL QIB qualifier) off the edge is appealing. His agility scores (3-cone 6.84, short shuttle 4.31) are on par with Ziggy Ansah, who has long been the athletic standout in the Lions front-seven.

Instincts and length are Meredith’s strongest traits, where he uses both to track down the ball carrier and knock down passes on a regular basis. His small school experience is likely what led to him going undrafted and he may have a long learning curve before seeing the field in an NFL game, but the potential is there.

Meredith is comfortable rushing the passer with his hand in the dirt and dropping from a standing linebacker position, making him an ideal candidate for the Lions JACK linebacker role, which is expected to be occupied by Devon Kennard. The depth behind Kennard looks to be an open competition, with players like Jeremiah Valoaga, Alex Barrett, Cam Johnson and Trevor Bates in the mix.

In Dave Birkett’s most recent mailbag at the Free Press, he was asked which UDFA he was most impressed by in mini-camp. While it should be no surprise the first name he mentioned was Lions Wire favorite Teo Redding, the other player he mentioned was Meredith:

On defense, linebacker Chad Meredith stood out to me for a few reasons. Meredith is just bigger than most linebackers at 6 feet 4 and 250-plus pounds, and he used his size to swat down a couple passes during minicamp and OTAs. The Lions haven’t practiced in pads yet, so I don’t have a good read on how physical Meredith is as a player. But given the Lions’ depth at linebacker, and the ability for those players to contribute on special teams, he could be in the mix for a back-end roster spot with a strong camp.

The opportunity is there for the talented JACK linebacker and with Lions training camp just over a month away, Meredith will have a chance to earn a role on the 53-man roster.