The Detroit Lions front office and coaching staff put a premium on versatility and offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai’s ability to play both tackle and guard at a high level was a big reason they targeted him early in free agency.
As general manager Bob Quinn noted in his video conference with Detroit media on Friday, Vaitai’s positional flexibility allows the Lions to keep their options open in the types of players they add in the future.
“Yeah, Vaitai is a guy we obviously like a lot,” Quinn said. “One of the best things about him is we feel like he can play two positions and he has played two positions. Does he have the ability to play right tackle? Absolutely. Can he go inside and play guard at a high level? We think he can. So, that’s one of the reasons why he was kind of a target for us because depending upon what happens in the Draft and the rest of free agency, we feel like we can plug him into either spot.”
The Lions are expected to bring in more competition on the offensive line via the draft before settling on a spot for Vaitai.
“We’ll kind of see where the roster shakes up here in another three, four weeks and kind of solidify the depth chart going into the offseason.”
Draft impact
The Lions need a starter at both right tackle and right guard, and Vaitai’s ability to play at both spots gives the team options in the draft. He allows the team to take the best offensive lineman available, rather than be forced to focus on only one position group.
This doubles the draft pool for potential starting offensive linemen.
First-round
The offensive tackle group is very strong at the top, with potentially six tackles likely being selected before the first interior offensive lineman. Four of those six — Tristan Wirfs (Iowa), Jedrick Wills (Alabama), Andrew Thomas (Georgia), and Mekhi Becton (Louisville) — could hear their name called in the top-16 picks and are considered by most as potential All-Pro level players.
With left tackle Taylor Decker in a contract year and four potential stud offensive tackles there to be taken, if the Lions trade back from pick No. 3, Wirfs, Wills, Thomas, and Becton are very much in play — likely playing right tackle as a rookie and then potentially shifting to left tackle in 2021.
If the Lions draft defense in the first round, the second round opens up several more opportunities to grab an offensive lineman who can contribute early.
Second-round
Left tackles Josh Jones (Houston) and Ezra Cleveland (Boise State) are potential first-rounders but if either fall to pick No. 35, they could be in play. Jones was on the Lions squad at the Senior Bowl while Cleveland hits all the athletic markers for the Lions.
Michigan’s Cesar Ruiz is another potential first-rounder who the Lions could consider is there in the second. He has the range to play both center and guard, hits every athletic benchmark for the Lions, and is a plug-and-play level player.
Austin Jackson (LT, USC), Isaiah Wilson (RT, Georgia), and Lloyd Cushenberry (C, LSU) all have day one starter level potential but each has a few traits that need to be cleaned up.
Third-round
The tackle market is getting thinner fast, but players like Lucas Niang (RT, TCU) and Prince Tega-Wanogho (LT, Auburn) — who have seen their stock fall due to injury — offer upside value. Matt Peart (RT, UConn) is a sleeper name to keep in mind here, he was the Lions starting right tackle at the Senior Bowl.
This could be the sweet spot of the draft for an interior offensive lineman, with eight names that could challenge to start at right guard for the Lions — Robert Hunt (RT/G, Louisana), Matt Hennessy (C, Temple), Damien Lewis (RG, LSU), Ben Bredeson (LG, Michigan), Nick Harris (IOL, Washington), John Simpson (LG, Clemson), Jonah Jackson (LG, Ohio State), and Ben Bartch (LT/G, St. Johns). The sleeper here is Hakeem Adeniji (LT/G, Kansas) who saw reps at both left and right guard for the Lions at the Senior Bowl.
Of the 22 players listed above, not all of them will be selected in the top-100 picks which could afford the Lions the opportunity to land one of these players at pick No. 109 in the fourth round. If the Lions still haven’t selected an offensive lineman at that point, it will be challenging to find another player in the draft capable of challenging for a starting role in their rookie year.