Lions’ PFF grades from preseason game against Chiefs: Vaki gets a weird grade after big night

It’s analytics time! Pro Football Focus has released their grades for the Lions from their preseason game against the Chiefs. Let’s take a closer look at who had the highest grade and the highs and the lows from Saturday:

Highest grade

The Lions’ highest graded player from Saturday night was, drum roll please, Abraham Beauplan. He had a 90.1 grade on 27 total snaps. Got to tell you, that is not who we thought would be here in the highest graded spot. 

Weird grade

Sione Vkai had one hell of game on Saturday, that’s why it’s weird that he got a 67 grade and wasn’t the highest graded player. The thing that dragged him down was a 58.9 run grade and a 50 run block grade. He did have the highest pass grade on the team though with an 83.6

Highs

• Hendon Hooker, 83.3: A really high grade for Hooker after having a grade in the 40’s against the Giants. He had a solid performance. 
• Loren Strickland, 84.1: Strickland had another good game for the second week in a row. He is going to be really hard for this team to turn away. It would not be a shock if he’s in over C.J. Moore.
• Isaiah Williams, 76.6: Another really strong game from Williams. Like Strickland, he could surprise and make the team, but he just has so many guys ahead of him that do what he does. 
• Kindle Vildor, 75.4: After a solid week of practice with the first team, he had a solid game against the Chiefs. 75.4 still seems a little low to me though. 

Lows

• Colby Sorsdal, 59.4: Another tough week for Sorsdal. They have him having a good night as a pass blocker with an 83.9 grade, but the 46 run block grade plumets him down to a 59.4 total grade. 
• Donovan Peoples-Jones, 51.1: A rough game for DPJ. He was targeted five times and only caught one pass for 5-yards. He had a lot of trouble separating and it caused an interception. 
• C.J. Moore, 47: It helps Strickland out a lot that Moore didn’t have a good game Saturday and wasn’t great last Thursday either.
• Mathieu Betts, 39: I know Lions fans were really hoping for Betts to be the same guy he was in the CFL, but he has struggled in the NFL. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a practice squad guy though.