ALLEN PARK — It’s been more than a month since the Detroit Lions‘ then-battered secondary, fondly nicknamed the Legion of Whom, locked down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.
The Lions entered Week 7 missing four of their five starting defensive backs. The patchwork group, led by Amik Robertson, was phenomenal against quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was viewed as an MVP candidate through the campaign’s first six weeks. The Bucs were held to a season-low nine points that evening, as reserves — from cornerbacks Rock Ya-Sin, Arthur Maulet and Nick Whiteside to safeties Thomas Harper, Erick Hallett II and Loren Strickland — not only held their own, but flat-out balled.
With the secondary’s starters slowly making their ways back to the field, some of the heroes from that October victory have returned to the background. That’s life in the NFL. If nothing else, they showed capable of being trusted in a pinch, and they etched their names into the lore of the 2025 season, no matter how it ends for Detroit.
Harper’s opportunity, however, isn’t quite yet finished. The second-year undrafted product out of Oklahoma State (2019-22) and Notre Dame (2023) continues to fill in for Kerby Joseph, who has missed Detroit’s last four games with a knee injury and will be absent from a fifth when the Lions welcome the New York Giants to Ford Field on Sunday.
Replacing an All-Pro like Joseph is next to impossible, but Harper has performed well above any reasonable expectations. Among the 83 safeties across the league who’ve logged at least 250 defensive snaps this season, Harper’s overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus (74.0) is tied for 17th. The Lions are one of three teams with two safeties inside the top 20; Brian Branch (76.7) ranks 10th.
“He plays the game the right way. … He’s in his spot at the right time, every time,” Branch said of Harper.
Being able to quickly find his footing is nothing new for Harper, who the Lions claimed off waivers about a week before their season began. Harper didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year (basketball was his first love), and he only joined the team at Karns High School in Tennessee because his older brother, Devin, requested he gave the sport a chance.
Harper’s first play was a kick return for a touchdown.
“I totally went off script,” Harper said. “It was a left return, and I just went right.”
Football players
Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. (33) is tackled by Detroit Lions safety Thomas Harper (12) during an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (RICK OSENTOSKI — AP Photo)
By the end of his debut, Harper saw a future in football. After making plays with so little practice reps, he imagined what he could do if he took things seriously. It also helped that Devin, a linebacker and 2½ years Harper’s senior, was on a similar path. Devin spent six seasons at Oklahoma State, and he’s had stints with three NFL teams, most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
“It was super natural,” Harper, 25, said of playing football.
Harper signed with the Los Angeles Chargers after going unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was waived following his first training camp and picked up by the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom Harper appeared in 15 games with last season.
He was once again waived in August, opening the door for the Lions to pounce.
Harper was surprised when the Raiders chose to move on, but he’s chosen to operate with the belief that everything happens for a reason. Without that gut punch, Harper wouldn’t be in Detroit.
The Lions came calling less than 24 hours after the Raiders cut him: “I was still shocked, but it was a good feeling knowing that somebody else believed in me,” Harper said.
That belief has proven both prudent and mutually beneficial.