Who Should Be the Odd Man Out on the Lions' Offensive Line?
This past offseason, the Detroit Lions and general manager Bob Quinn inked offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a five-year, $45 million contract -- currently 27th-highest for all tackles in the NFL.
Important to note, Vaitai's deal can basically become a two-year, $15.8 million contract, with $4.2 million of dead cap in 2022.
So, the raw figures of Vaitai’s deal can be a bit misleading.
No matter the case, after last year’s right tackle Rick Wagner was released, Vaitai surely seemed like he would be Wagner’s direct replacement.
So far, that has not transpired, but could change soon.
Due to injuries along the line, Lions head coach Matt Patricia has shuffled the deck upfront.
Vaitai himself battled an injury, and did not play the first two weeks of the season.
Another offensive lineman in guard Joe Dahl also sustained an injury in Week 1, resulting in him being placed on injured reserve.
With the hole left by Dahl at guard and with swing tackle Tyrell Crosby playing well, the Lions opted to slide Vaitai inside to right guard -- a position he had only played 44 snaps at during his career prior to 2020.
Now, Dahl has returned to practice, and the Lions have a decision to make.
Should Dahl retake his left guard spot and Jonah Jackson move back to right guard, allowing Vaitai to man his more natural position at right tackle and relegating Crosby to the bench?
Going into the season, that was the assumed starting unit.
One problem -- and it’s a good problem -- Crosby has been playing solid, and may deserve to be the top guy on the right side.
So far, Crosby is the seventh-best pass-blocking right tackle in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus’ grading system.
Unfortunately, Vaitai has never been considered to be a good pass-blocking player.
He is more of the run-blocking mauler type.
Coming into this year, Vaitai had a career pass-blocking grade of 55.2, which ranked 84th out of 94 qualified tackles.
In a pass-happy league, protecting the passer is paramount.
Perhaps Dahl enters a guard rotation with Jackson and Vaitai, like we saw a season ago.
Perhaps Crosby just goes back to his backup duties and Vaitai moves outside.
It might not be out of the question that even Vaitai himself rides the pine.
However, Vaitai's $5.4 million cap hit this year would make for one expensive reserve.
All in all, the Lions need to play their five best linemen.
If Vaitai is not one of them, it’s another major black eye on Quinn's fleeting reputation.
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