Journeyman Veteran T.Y. McGill is the Breakout Star of the Vikings' Preseason

McGill has had an incredible two games so far, making a strong case for a spot on the 53-man roster.

T.Y. McGill is the definition of an NFL journeyman.

The 29-year-old defensive tackle has been waived or released 14 times in his career. He's played for nine teams, with multiple stints on three of them. He's worn seven different jersey numbers, ranging from 67 to 99. He's spent time on practice squads and has appeared in 46 regular season games without any starts.

Against the odds, McGill is still hanging around the league seven years after he first got his foot in the door, and he's doing everything he can to convince the Vikings he deserves a spot on their 53-man roster this year. With an NFL-best 3.5 sacks through two weeks of preseason action, McGill has become the breakout star of the Vikings' August slate. 

It started against the Raiders last weekend, when McGill turned heads with a two-sack outing. Then, against the 49ers, he made it clear that his performance in Las Vegas was no fluke. McGill was arguably the best player on the field on Saturday night in Minneapolis, racking up six pressures, four quarterback hits, another 1.5 sacks, and a 91.9 PFF grade. The 49ers couldn't keep him out of the backfield.

All of T.Y. McGill's 3.5 sacks through two preseason games, complete with his signature T-Y-T-Y celebration.

Kevin O'Connell: "I think he's had a really good camp. He's flashed in both games now." pic.twitter.com/djIgN5wTcI

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 21, 2022

"He's one of those guys that flashed to me," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "He wrecked multiple plays tonight, had the sack and a half. It's the plays that don't register on the stat sheet when you see him just explode through the line, forces the (running) back to bounce. ... I think he's had a really good camp, he's flashed in both games now. It's really cool to see a guy like that understand the (opportunity) that he may have and ultimately capitalize on it with performances like tonight."

It's been a long, winding road for McGill. He went undrafted out of North Carolina State in 2015, getting his first NFL opportunity when the Seahawks signed him as a minicamp tryout player that year. McGill landed with the Colts later in his rookie season and became a solid contributor in Indianapolis, playing in 25 games and recording 5 sacks between 2015 and '16.

Since then, he's struggled to stick around with one franchise for very long. McGill has only appeared in 21 games over the past five seasons, bouncing from place to place most years. After playing over 500 defensive snaps in his two seasons with the Colts, McGill's highest mark of the last five years was the 127 snaps he saw with the Eagles in 2020.

Even though he hasn't been able to carve out much of a role for himself in recent years, there's a reason McGill keeps getting picked up by teams. He's got some legitimate pass rush ability from the defensive tackle position, with a ton of burst off the line of scrimmage. He's a bit undersized at 6-foot, 294 pounds, but he explodes off the ball and plays with a relentless motor.

According to O'Connell, McGill has been impressive in practices in addition to these two games.

"We do quite a bit of 1s vs 2 work in practice," O'Connell said. "So he's had multiple days working against our first team offense, and I ask those offensive linemen, 'Who's sticking out to you guys as far as somebody that's tough to block?' You know, they're going back and talking amongst themselves, you know, 'TY's a problem,' and so you start hearing some of that, you start showing the team some of these clips of these guys making plays in those periods where the ones are going against the twos. And then it's not a shock to you when he comes out here and does it."

The Vikings signed McGill to their practice squad last November. He then became a free agent and was actually the first player ever signed by new Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah when he landed a one-year deal in March. At the time, there wasn't a reason to think much of it. McGill was facing a major uphill battle to crack Minnesota's roster.

Now, with just over a week until roster cutdown day, McGill might be forcing the Vikings' hand. Even if it's just the preseason, can you cut someone who's playing this well? The veteran is competing with players like James Lynch, Jonathan Bullard, Jaylen Twyman, and Esezi Otomewo for a roster spot or two, and he's done more than any other member of that group to help his case this month.

Stories like McGill's are what makes the preseason fun. This is a veteran who is almost 30 years old and on his ninth team. He hasn't had a full regular season sack since 2016. But he's still chasing his dream, racking up sacks, and making the T-Y-T-Y sign with his arms, a celebration he borrowed from former Colts teammate T.Y. Hilton. McGill is the breakout star of the Vikings' preseason, and he's got one more opportunity next Saturday to keep convincing the team he belongs on the roster.

Three other players who impressed against the 49ers

CB Akayleb Evans

Evans was all over the field on Saturday, racking up nine tackles and a forced fumble. The rookie corner had a huge tackle for loss on a fourth-and-short in the first quarter, then nearly caused a turnover when he ripped the ball out of Marcus Johnson's arms late in the game. Evans even made a tackle as a punt gunner in this game. He feels like a lock to make the roster.

C Austin Schlottmann

Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity. With Chris Reed unavailable due to an elbow injury, Schlottmann played 38 snaps against the 49ers and was remarkably good. He didn't allow any pressures on 25 pass blocking snaps, helped pave the way for Ty Chandler's rushing touchdown, and finished with a 92.2 PFF grade. Schlottmann is making a strong case to be kept on the active roster.

OLB Patrick Jones

After recording four pressures against the Raiders, Jones added another three in this game, splitting a sack with McGill. The second-year edge rusher out of Pitt has looked explosive in the passing game and has set the edge well against the run.

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