The Lions should sign former Viking Kenny Willekes after tryout
Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but the Detroit Lions have been going through a lot of injuries. They need some help filling in some spots on their roster now. As much as I'd like to tell you that there's a superstar out there that's just waiting to get signed, there isn't. That ok though. The […]
Maybe you haven't noticed yet, but the Detroit Lions have been going through a lot of injuries. They need some help filling in some spots on their roster now. As much as I'd like to tell you that there's a superstar out there that's just waiting to get signed, there isn't. That ok though.
The Lions most realistic move is that they move some players up from the practice squad. They've already move up three in Zonovan Knight, Chase Lucas and Kayode Awosika. They have one more roster spot open, so there's always a a chance the could move one more guy like Raymond Johnson III or Quinton Bohanna to the main roster.
There's going to be some open spots on the practice squad now and I have one guy that should be added to the Lions practice squad. That's former Vikings and Michigan State defensive end Kenny Willekes.
The Michigan native had a great career at Michigan State. He had 23.5 sacks in three years of being a starter there. 10 of them came in his final season with the Spartans.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted him the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. That's when things went wrong. Willekes fractured his fibula during his first training camp and missed his entire rookie season.
He returned during the 2021 season and played six games and played pretty well. Especially in the pass rush area. He had eight hurries, 2.5 sacks and three quarterback hits on 202 snaps. When he got in, he did things.
Unfortunately, Willekes got hurt at camp again in 2022 and missed the entire season. The Vikings waived him in May and he became a free agent.
He tried out with the Lions on Tuesday of this week and I think the team should give him a shot. The injury history hurts him, but everyone should be able to get a shot at redemption. Putting him out there with the practice squad is a pathway to that redemption. The guy is only 25 years old. Let's see what he has.
With the struggles that the Lions pass rush has been having, there aren't enough options out there that you can take a look at.
Other guys that tried out on Tuesday that might have a shot are cornerback Darius Phillips, who has 56 games and 10 starts under his belt, and running back Nate McCray. He doesn't have a lot of NFL experience outside of being a practice squad guy, but he was electric at Saginaw Valley State.
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