It makes sense since his measurables are much more in line with a RB than a DB (5’11”, 29” arms, 4.62 40 time), but I’d think a huge part of his value is his versatility since he doesn’t have a ton of RB tape.
Could see him being absolutely huge with these new kickoff rules. You gotta really take kickoffs seriously now and he seems like a perfect guy for those situations
Either way, Brad’s made it very clear that he doesn’t draft for position, so trying to figure out his fit based on the current roster isn’t the right approach IMO
Yes exactly imagine him in the back field on every punt too. As much as we love to fake punt it puts the defense in a bad position every single time it’s 4th and short and the punt team comes on. And yes the new kick off rules…. The Lions know this is going to be a big change this year and they went and got their guy he’ll be deadly in both coverage and returns. He’s our new special teams ace with an extra ability to fill in at RB if we get an injury or fill in on Defense if we get an injury allowing us to have depth on both sides of the ball…. It’s a brilliant move.
And let’s not forgot how they had to abandon the run game against the Bucs last year when Montgomery and Gibbs were out. I like Craig, but an upgrade was needed
Not really a RB- he played every position in the secondary and linebacker in college. And I guess he could serve as a 4th rb.
Special teams primarily is interesting though - wondering if this was made with the new kickoff rules in mind. Can’t wait to see what they have cooking for that.
I know nothing about Vaki but Montgomery is only going to be here 1-2 more years so Vaki could be a cheap replacement for the 2-3 years after while getting his feet wet as the 3rd back.
I’m aware of Reynolds. But if you’re going to use a 4th round pick on a RB and special teamer, then I imagine they’ll want him to at the very least compete if not improve on Reynolds.
My guess is they use him for kick returns. I read that the new rules lend more to durability and acceleration than pure speed, and Vaki had those traits in spades.
Because he’s better at defense. I’m not going to freak out over it now but using future draft capital to use him at RB is pretty crazy. We’ll see how they actually use him, I’ll patiently wait.
The thing is they don't desperately need him at safety or RB. They have the luxury of trying it out. And always have the ability to switch him back. I think they are searching for a lottery pick. Let's see if it works.
I really don't understand why we went out of our way to draft this guy, but I'm not Brad Holmes and he knows a thousand times more about the player and the team's needs and how the team would use him than I do, and he must have really really wanted this guy, so I'll defer to his judgment.
I'm left wondering, is he good enough as a safety to warrant being drafted in the 4th round - a potential future starter at safety? Or does Brad think he is an undiscovered running back prodigy worth trading next year's 4th for? Or did he draft this guy anticipating that he would be our new rules kick returner? If he runs a 4.62 he doesn't seem very fast for safety or RB. If he's just mediocre at both positions then it seems like a waste of draft capital.
Just watched some defensive and offensive highlights of this guy. Defensively, he seems to possess the physical and hard hitting traits that Dan and Brad love. "That dawg" if you will. He isn't the fastest but he is solid against the run. Most likely he will be used as a depth piece for S and RET.
Offensively, he was used mostly for short yardage situations at RB. He did, however, display some nice pass catching ability from the backfield. He's got hands and he can break tackles for short yards. I see him being an emergency RB if something happens to Gibbs or Monty.
My guess is that Brad sees this kid as a straight up swiss army knife and can contribute on Defense, Offense and Special teams. A 4th rounder seems high but depth is so crucial in this league, especially with schedules getting longer.
I think too many people are looking at this draft purely for 2024. Go compare Vaki's physical traits to David Montgomery's. In a couple seasons he'll be Gibbs' power back
https://preview.redd.it/linw7tr0k2xc1.jpeg?width=610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfb5c5d6d278b6945d0127721207bdcd9d815637
David Montgomery was a star in college at RB and this guy filled in when his teams had injuries at the position.
I mean, those are ridiculous takes, Montgomery was a mid third round pick. He'd have been top 10 if what that graphic said was true.
Also nowhere did I say he was as skilled as Montgomery is now. But physically very similar and after a couple years of development I can certainly hope and believe be can develop into a quality RB.
Yeah, it’s difficult to remember that they have to plan for the future. We love d-mo. And he just started playing. But realistically, the chances of him having another contract in the NFL for may be more than a year are slim. Even more with The same team is on now
Yeah, I'm guessing they could cut him after this next season and save some against the cap, although I don't think it's particularly likely since I believe he's a bit underpaid actually, but he's got 2 years left total, and of he's looking for one last contract to cash in, the Lions probably won't be the ones to give it to him. Would be really nice to have an in house replacement.
This of course is assuming that he can get up to speed playing RB, but only time will tell. Is an absolute dawg though
I think we keep him as a RB4 that is active on game day due to special teams ability and ability to play defense if in a pinch. You wanna have someone who can contribute on teams because if things go to plan pretty much all the carries are going to Gibbs and Monty with maybe a touch of Reynolds. But given how physical the position is it’s likely they at least get limited in game action at some point due to an injury so you don’t want a complete special teamer with no running ability or if things are really bad RB4 might have to lead for a game or two, we’ve seen it so many times with guys throughout the years on our team alone. IIRC the lions haven’t usually kept a RB4 active on game day in the DC era, but that could be due to lack of special team and running ability that any of our previous RB4s possessed. I also could be totally wrong and RB4 was active every week
Caleb Williams will never beat the Lions now. We drafted a defensive player from Utah
We got rid of Okaduh so JJ won’t own dominate our defensive Buckeyes.
It makes sense since his measurables are much more in line with a RB than a DB (5’11”, 29” arms, 4.62 40 time), but I’d think a huge part of his value is his versatility since he doesn’t have a ton of RB tape. Could see him being absolutely huge with these new kickoff rules. You gotta really take kickoffs seriously now and he seems like a perfect guy for those situations Either way, Brad’s made it very clear that he doesn’t draft for position, so trying to figure out his fit based on the current roster isn’t the right approach IMO
I think he ends up on kick returns with DPJ
Yes exactly imagine him in the back field on every punt too. As much as we love to fake punt it puts the defense in a bad position every single time it’s 4th and short and the punt team comes on. And yes the new kick off rules…. The Lions know this is going to be a big change this year and they went and got their guy he’ll be deadly in both coverage and returns. He’s our new special teams ace with an extra ability to fill in at RB if we get an injury or fill in on Defense if we get an injury allowing us to have depth on both sides of the ball…. It’s a brilliant move.
Idk if I love trading up for a RB with our backfield, but I'm not an expert by any means so I'll defer to Brad for now
Could be a pick made with special teams in mind.
yea I was thinking they might see something in him with the new kickoff returns
I think trading up for a punt returner is also a bit suspect but he’s versatile enough that I don’t mind the pick.
Seems like he can definitely be a starter on both sides of punts/kickoffs, and gives depth for RB and safety.
Ah shit man why aren't you in the draft room with Brad /s
RBs tend to get hurt so you really want three solid ones on the roster. And especially have an RB3 that is active on special teams
Craig Reynolds on line 2 for you sir.
I like Craig but that doesn’t mean we can’t do better
It's like the old saying "offense wins games but RB3's win championships."
This made me actually laugh out loud lol God bless
They might if your RB1a or RB1b is on IR lol
Nobody throws a block like Craig Reynolds sir!
There’s no way this guy is an upgrade on Reynolds.
And let’s not forgot how they had to abandon the run game against the Bucs last year when Montgomery and Gibbs were out. I like Craig, but an upgrade was needed
Craig was a beast in that game!
Not really a RB- he played every position in the secondary and linebacker in college. And I guess he could serve as a 4th rb. Special teams primarily is interesting though - wondering if this was made with the new kickoff rules in mind. Can’t wait to see what they have cooking for that.
You know Fipp in the lab right now cooking up those return plays.
I know nothing about Vaki but Montgomery is only going to be here 1-2 more years so Vaki could be a cheap replacement for the 2-3 years after while getting his feet wet as the 3rd back.
Reynolds is the 3. I would be surprised he touches the ball in the backfield without some injuries back there.
I’m aware of Reynolds. But if you’re going to use a 4th round pick on a RB and special teamer, then I imagine they’ll want him to at the very least compete if not improve on Reynolds.
He’s not a RB - he’s a safety. He played some rb but if he plays it’ll be in the secondary barring disaster
I like the thought of a multidimensional player that could fill in for kerb, iffy or reynolds. I feel like he’d only strengthen our depth.
Correction.. defer to Brad forever.
He’s just taking great talent where it falls, I’m guessing. You can find a place for great talent.
(Reposted due to more detail from Birkett)
If there was a position that wasn't considered a serious position of need, but I was almost 100% confident we'd pick, it was RB. Was just a feeling.
It's such an injury prone position man. Can't have enough RB depth.
My guess is they use him for kick returns. I read that the new rules lend more to durability and acceleration than pure speed, and Vaki had those traits in spades.
I watched an interview with him and he was pretty adamant he liked playing defense better.
Because he’s better at defense. I’m not going to freak out over it now but using future draft capital to use him at RB is pretty crazy. We’ll see how they actually use him, I’ll patiently wait.
The thing is they don't desperately need him at safety or RB. They have the luxury of trying it out. And always have the ability to switch him back. I think they are searching for a lottery pick. Let's see if it works.
Maybe, but I'm certain he'll like getting paid to play in the NFL at any position over not playing.
I really don't understand why we went out of our way to draft this guy, but I'm not Brad Holmes and he knows a thousand times more about the player and the team's needs and how the team would use him than I do, and he must have really really wanted this guy, so I'll defer to his judgment. I'm left wondering, is he good enough as a safety to warrant being drafted in the 4th round - a potential future starter at safety? Or does Brad think he is an undiscovered running back prodigy worth trading next year's 4th for? Or did he draft this guy anticipating that he would be our new rules kick returner? If he runs a 4.62 he doesn't seem very fast for safety or RB. If he's just mediocre at both positions then it seems like a waste of draft capital.
Just watched some defensive and offensive highlights of this guy. Defensively, he seems to possess the physical and hard hitting traits that Dan and Brad love. "That dawg" if you will. He isn't the fastest but he is solid against the run. Most likely he will be used as a depth piece for S and RET. Offensively, he was used mostly for short yardage situations at RB. He did, however, display some nice pass catching ability from the backfield. He's got hands and he can break tackles for short yards. I see him being an emergency RB if something happens to Gibbs or Monty. My guess is that Brad sees this kid as a straight up swiss army knife and can contribute on Defense, Offense and Special teams. A 4th rounder seems high but depth is so crucial in this league, especially with schedules getting longer.
It’s good practice to draft a RB every single year. It’s a very injury prone position.
I think his primary purpose will be to back up all five defensive secondary positions. Like a (hopefully) better version of Will Harris
I think too many people are looking at this draft purely for 2024. Go compare Vaki's physical traits to David Montgomery's. In a couple seasons he'll be Gibbs' power back
https://preview.redd.it/linw7tr0k2xc1.jpeg?width=610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfb5c5d6d278b6945d0127721207bdcd9d815637 David Montgomery was a star in college at RB and this guy filled in when his teams had injuries at the position.
I mean, those are ridiculous takes, Montgomery was a mid third round pick. He'd have been top 10 if what that graphic said was true. Also nowhere did I say he was as skilled as Montgomery is now. But physically very similar and after a couple years of development I can certainly hope and believe be can develop into a quality RB.
That’s honestly ridiculous to say he’ll be a good starting rb in the nfl when he barely played the position in college
The dude will be a useful special teamer. We don't need to be so hyperbolic
Yeah special teamer and depth at RB and safety. It's a day 3 pick he doesn't have to be Jesus. Ppl are crazy
Yeah, it’s difficult to remember that they have to plan for the future. We love d-mo. And he just started playing. But realistically, the chances of him having another contract in the NFL for may be more than a year are slim. Even more with The same team is on now
Yeah, I'm guessing they could cut him after this next season and save some against the cap, although I don't think it's particularly likely since I believe he's a bit underpaid actually, but he's got 2 years left total, and of he's looking for one last contract to cash in, the Lions probably won't be the ones to give it to him. Would be really nice to have an in house replacement. This of course is assuming that he can get up to speed playing RB, but only time will tell. Is an absolute dawg though
I don’t think they’d cut him barring injury regression. But the fact is he’s here two years max
I think we keep him as a RB4 that is active on game day due to special teams ability and ability to play defense if in a pinch. You wanna have someone who can contribute on teams because if things go to plan pretty much all the carries are going to Gibbs and Monty with maybe a touch of Reynolds. But given how physical the position is it’s likely they at least get limited in game action at some point due to an injury so you don’t want a complete special teamer with no running ability or if things are really bad RB4 might have to lead for a game or two, we’ve seen it so many times with guys throughout the years on our team alone. IIRC the lions haven’t usually kept a RB4 active on game day in the DC era, but that could be due to lack of special team and running ability that any of our previous RB4s possessed. I also could be totally wrong and RB4 was active every week
In a world where jamyr gets hurt I don’t want Craig reynolds as my rb2
Craig Reynolds replacement? Or do we have Craig for another year?