Detroit Lions try out five defensive tackles

The Detroit Lions have struggled to find depth at defensive tackle. They made two big signings at the position in Danny Shelton and Nick Williams early in free agency, and the return of 2018 standout Da’Shawn Hand should help as well, but there is not too much happening on the depth chart beyond them. Seventh-round pick Jashon Cornell being placed on injured reserve earlier this week only made a bad situation even worse.

Detroit may be attempting to address the crisis on Friday, when they brought in five defensive tackles for workouts, hoping to find someone that can compete for a roster spot.

The most notable of the group is T.Y. McGill, an NFL journey man entering his sixth year in the league. McGill was an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State back in 2015, when the Seattle Seahawks gave him a chance in training camp. He ended up sticking around with the Indianapolis Colts in his rookie year, and has since had 11 stints with eight different NFL teams. The defensive tackle spent 2019 with the Los Angeles Chargers — a team he has three separate stints with — and played three games for the team. He has notched 37 career appearances.

Elijah Qualls was a member of the group as well. The 2017 sixth-round pick out of the University of Washington was initially selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, but has bounced around the league as well. Qualls most recently featured in the XFL, where he played for the DC Defenders before the league was suspended mid-season. Qualls has played in six career games, all for the Eagles 2017 Super Bowl-winning team. He has not played a regular season game since.

The rest of the group included Josiah Coatney, a 2020 UDFA out of Ole Miss who was most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Walter Palmore, a 2020 UDFA out of Missouri who was most recently with the Houston Texans, and Kevin Wilkins, who spent the 2019 season on the New York Giants practice squad.