5 things to know about new Detroit Lions RB Sione Vaki

Everything you need to know about new Detroit Lions running back and/or safety Sione Vaki.

One of the Detroit Lions’ most fascinating picks in the 2024 NFL Draft was fourth-round pick Sione Vaki. He’s a do-it-all player who will almost certainly have an immediate impact as a four-phase special teamer—but he also has the experience and the skill set to potentially play on both offense and defense, too.

Let’s get to know Vaki a little better as we continue our “5 things to know…” series on the Lions’ 2024 draft class:

Previously:

• 5 things to know about Terrion Arnold
• 5 things to know about Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
• 5 things to know about Giovanni Manu

Did you know he plays safety and running back yet?

At the risk of already turning this into a Matthew Stafford and Clayton Kershaw thing, it’s still pretty darn important to point out that Vaki was predominantly a safety at Utah. But when the injury bug hit the running backs room, Vaki was moved over to an offensive role in addition to his defensive role.

This wasn’t just a hair-brained idea from the Utah coaching staff. Vaki earned plenty of experience on offense in high school, including sharing the backfield with Najee Harris before transferring to another high school. In his senior year, he caught 70 passes for 1,394 yards and 20 touchdowns, earning the league MVP.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes knows he can play safety, but it sure sounds like he’s more interested in his untapped potential at running back:

“We know he can play safety. We know he can do that, but the vision is we’re so intrigued by the running back stuff, especially because he hadn’t been majoring in it,” Holmes said. “So it’s like how far can this thing go if he’s actually majoring in this thing in one room? So that’s going to be the vision.”

I dug a little deeper on Vaki to see what his preference was, and I thought he gave a very interesting answer in this pre-draft interview with “Inside The Birds”:

“When it comes to offense, I feel like it comes more naturally,” Vaki said. “I played a lot more offense in my career than I have played defensively. But, I don’t know, for some reason defense brings more joy.”

His high school highlights are ridiculous

While there is some tape on offense from his Utah days, his high school tape is littered with ridiculous highlights. You have to do some digging to find them (sorry, not much on YouTube), but if you have a spare eight minutes, check out this highlight reel filled with ridiculous catches, solid contact balance, and real natural hands as a receiver. There are plenty of defensive highlights, too.

He paused his college enrollment for a two-year religious mission

After graduating from high school, Vaki traveled to Tonga as part of a Latter-day Saints religious mission. Traveling in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vaki would only end up spending six months in Tonga before being re-assigned to serve out the rest of his two-year mission in Salt Lake City.

“The mission opened me up to be able to communicate and talk to everyone and just try to be a light to those around me, try to be an example,” Vaki told Church News. “I’m not the greatest at doing that. But the mission definitely helped me in trying to just uplift everyone’s day, in any way I can.”

Vaki also credited his missionary work with helping him build out his mental toughness, which helped in his college football career.

He is the youngest of 11 children

Vaki has a big family, and as the youngest of 11(!!), he often had the brunt of the chores of the household.

“It was definitely tough. Being the youngest, you definitely have your own chores as well as everyone else’s,” Vaki told the Lions media in his intro presser. “So, you can say I always learned to fight my way through life. And I love my family so much, as well as my siblings, and I wouldn’t be here without them.”

His draft video is awesome

My favorite part of draft weekend is watching the reaction of players and their families when their lives change forever. I haven’t seen them all for the Lions draft class yet, but it’s going to be hard to top Vaki’s. At this point, he has already gotten the call from the Lions, but he and his family patiently wait for that moment to be announced live on television.

With his arm around family and a Lions cap in hand, he watches, tears in his eyes, and looks toward the future:

(click on the right arrow to see the video)