Getty Halapoulivaati Vaitai prepares for a snap in a Detroit Lions game.
The Detroit Lions had one of the league’s top offensive lines last season, allowing just 24 sacks all season despite losing starter Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a season-ending back injury.
Now, one report suggests that Vaitai could face a battle if he wants to win back the starting job before the next season starts. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox broke down position battles for all 32 teams, saying that the competition at right guard should be Detroit’s most competitive this summer.
Lions Veteran Will Need to Beat Out Rookie
Knox noted that the Lions should have an “open and honest” competition at right guard, a position that saw some instability last year. Backup center Evan Brown moved one spot over after Vaitai was lost to a season-ending back injury, but bolted in free agency to join the Seattle Seahawks after an up-and-down season in Detroit.
While Vaitai enters the season as the frontrunner to return to his starting role, the Lions have brought in a pair of other players who could present a challenge.
Vaitai should be the favorite if he’s healthy, but his recovery and rust could play factors,” Knox wrote. “The Lions also signed Graham Glasgow, who spent his first four seasons in Detroit, and used a fifth-round pick on William & Mary lineman Colby Sorsdal.”
Sorsdal earned some praise from draft pundit Duke Manyweather, who told Pride of Detroit that the rookie could make a strong run at the starting job.
William & Mary RT Colby Sorsdal is nasty in the run game, throwing defensive linemen around while resetting the LOS.
At 6-6, 305, shows athleticism to cut off backside DE’s, works to the 2nd level of the run game w/foot quickness. A 4-year starter and potential late day 3 pick.
“This is not to say that he’s penciled in as a starter, but I know the mentality that Colby has,” Manyweather continued. “And I know what Penei (Sewell) provides at right tackle, I know what Jonah Jackson and Taylor Decker like to do. I think he’s going to fit in that room really well and he’s going to compete. That’s for sure. So I think if it came down to it, him competing, you may have found a starter in a fifth-round draft pick from a small school that’s going to play a physical brand of football.”
Halapoulivaati Vaitai Looking Forward to Comeback in 2023
Vaitai recently opened up about the injury he suffered in the team’s preseason finale, which wiped out his season and prompted him to consider his future in football. Vaitai told reporters that he used the year off to spend time with his family and get a taste of retirement.
“Instead of just having my head down, I took that time to spend time with my kids, my family,” Vaitai said, via Pride of Detroit. “Just to see what retirement would feel like.”
Though the 30-year-old Vaitai is likely closer to the end of his career than the beginning, he said he was not yet ready to walk away from the sport and from the friends he made on the team. Vaitai added that he hopes to lead the Lions back into the playoffs and to the team’s first-ever Super Bowl this year.
“I can’t leave Penei (Sewell). I can’t leave all my guys. I can’t leave them,” Vaitai said. “I love this team a lot. I’m going to help Dan (Campbell) win one.”