I don’t know what it was, it felt like something was just drawing me towards this kid in Alabama last February during the Senior Bowl. I felt it again at the Combine in Indiana last March. The Detroit Lions felt it too. That’s why Sione Vaki was always the easiest player to predict the Lions drafting. It was a no brainer after he had spoke with the team at every level of the pre draft process.
Vaki is a rare three way player who can play all three phases well. I don’t know how much we’ll see him at safety, but I definitely expect to see him playing more on the offense as the season goes by. Where Vaki shines the most, and the thing that drew Lions GM Brad Holmes to him, is special teams.
“That’s what first stood out is we thought he was one of the better special teams players in this entire Draft.” Holmes said last Arpil. “All four phases of special teams. Especially with some of the changes that are coming about, he’s really – he’s starting to come to life even more.”
Vaki has definitely come to life this season. While you might not totally notice him because special teams is the forgotten son of the three phases, Vaki is actually one of the best special teams players in the entire NFL right now and he has a very good chance of winning the Special Teams Player of the Year award this season. Here’s what he’s got going for him and what he needs to do to secure it.
First off, we mentioned that he’s one of the best. Let’s elaborate on that. Right now Vaki holds a 90.0 special teams grade per Pro Football Focus. That’s the 10th highest grade in the league at the moment. That’s also a significantly higher grade than Jalen Reeves-Maybin’s 74.9 grade he had last year when he won the award.
Vaki is fifth in special teams tackles with five and he has no missed tackles. Almost every player in front of him has at least one. The other big thing he has is the attention of the voters after this.