Sione

Vaki

According to Rapoport, Pacheco “had surgery to remove a body that was pressing on a nerve in his back.” The 27-year-old back is looking at a 12-week recovery, but if all goes well, he could return for the final month of the season. If the Lions don’t add anybody to their backfield in the coming days/weeks, Sione Vaki and Jacob Saylors will continue to serve as the primary backups behind Jahmyr Gibbs.

It’s hard to imagine either Vaki or Saylors having meaningful fantasy value at this point in the season, but it sounds like both will be on the field while Isiah Pacheco (back) is sidelined for at least the first four games of the season. Judging by how Campbell sounded when discussing each player, it sounded like Saylors might be closer to the official RB2, but Campbell didn’t mince words when he said, “I see Vaki getting some reps, too.” Fantasy managers interested in taking a shot on a Lions running back not named Jahmyr Gibbs can consider both Saylors and Vaki as late-round dart throws until we see how their snap shares look in the coming weeks.

Vaki was “quietly putting together an excellent training camp last year when healthy” per Pouncy and the 2024 fourth-round pick could cut into Pacheco’s touches if Pacheco continues to not look like the 2022-2023 vintage. Vaki has just seven carries in his first two seasons in the league, but has been active 27 games as a core special teams contributor.

Vaki has missed each of the Lions’ first four games with a groin injury. He did not practice this week and does not appear to be close to returning.

Vaki got in three limited practices this week, but looks unlikely to be available. When healthy, he’s debatably the RB3 on the team, in a heat with Craig Reynolds.

Vaki is dealing with a hamstring issue and was ruled out on the final injury report. The Lions are fairly healthy heading into Week 1.

Vaki has been dealing with a hamstring injury for the better part of the preseason. The Lions’ fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Vaki serves as the RB4 and contributes on special teams. The 24-year-old running back isn’t expected to go on injured reserve, according to Birkett, but could miss Week 1 against the Packers.

Vaki originally signed with the Utes as a three-star 2019 safety and departed for a LDS mission in Tonga for the next three years. He joined the team in 2022 spending most of his reps in the slot with 41 tackles, 3.5 TFL and three PBU before taking on a full-time starting role in 2023. With half his snaps coming at free safety, Vaki was asked to take on more deep-half responsibilities and rose to the challenge by recording nine pressures, 17 stops and 8.5 TFL to go with Second Team All-American recognition. In a testament to his versatility, Vaki was asked to play running back for a brief spell this year after injuries struck and was a natural. He ran for 158 yards against Cal one week, then caught five passes for 149 yards against USC the next week before moving back to a primarily defensive role for the remainder of the year. It will be interesting to see if the Lions use Vaki in the backfield during training camp and the preseason. He’ll most likely be a rotational defensive or special teams player.

Vaki (6'0/190) is also kicking around a possible trip to USC. Regardless of where the Brentwood, California, native eventually signs, we won’t be seeing him until the 2021 season, as he plans on heading out on an LDS mission for the next two years. On the 247Sports composite board, Vaki ranks as the No. 91 prospect in the state of California for the 2019 cycle.