Lions News: Former 1st-Round Defensive Lineman Signs With Detroit

The Detroit Lions are adding another veteran defensive lineman in defensive tackle Tyson Alualu.

The 36-year-old’s agent, Kenny Zuckerman, announced the signing with a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“Time to play ball,” Zuckerman wrote, tagging Alualu.

The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Alualu at No. 10 overall in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. Alualu played seven seasons with the Jaguars before joining the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Alualu played six seasons in Pittsburgh. In 2022, he had 13 combined tackles, 2 quarterback hits, 1 pass defense and 0.5 sacks in 17 games.

But prior to December 5, Alualu hadn’t signed with any team for the 2023 season.

Alualu is the second 36-year-old defensive lineman the Lions have signed over the past month. On November 16, the Lions added defensive end Bruce Irvin to their practice squad.

The Detroit News’ Justin Rogers reported that, just like Irvin, Alualu will begin his Lions tenure on the practice squad as well.

Lions Sign DT Tyson Alualu

Alualu never became an All-Pro or Pro Bowl player. That was probably a little disappointing for the Jaguars since he was a top 10 pick.

But Alualu has been a solid contributor throughout his long career.

In Jacksonville, he started 87 games, posting 17.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss. He had at least 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss in six of his seven seasons with the Jaguars.

His best statistical campaign in Jacksonville was arguably his rookie season. Alualu had 3.5 sacks, 7 tackles for loss and 9 quarterback hits in 2010.

With the Steelers, Alualu had 7.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits mostly playing as a rotational defensive lineman. He started 26 out of 81 contests with in Pittsburgh.

His best season with the Steelers came in 2020 when he had 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss and 5 quarterback hits.

Alualu suffered a fractured ankle in Week 2 of the 2021 season. But he returned to play in all 17 games for the Steelers last year.

How Alualu Fits With the Lions

In those 17 games, Alualu played 291 defensive snaps and 32 special teams snaps. That was, by far, the least amount of playing time he had received during his career.

Playing in that small sample, Alualu posted just a 30.4 player grade (out of 100) at Pro Football Focus. His previous career low was a grade of 46.1 from the 2011 season.

Clearly, Alualu is no longer in his prime. But the Lions are looking for interior defensive line depth with starter Alim McNeill dealing with an injury. The second-year defensive tackle may not play in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears.

“Yeah, look, Mac’s a little banged up,” Campbell told the media on December 4. “We’ll know more on him probably in I would say a couple days. There’s a chance he might not be up.”

Even with McNeill, the Lions allowed the Bears to rush for 183 yards just three weeks ago. Since then, Detroit has yielded 135 rushing yards per game.

Losing McNeill could only make the Lions run defense worse. But adding Alualu gives the team some insurance on the practice squad if McNeill can’t play.

It will be interesting to see, though, if the Lions will consider elevating Alualu in Week 14 in the event McNeill doesn’t dress. Detroit didn’t elevate Irvin from the practice squad until his third week with the team.