The Detroit Lions are building a solid team, and although they don't have the pieces in place yet to make a genuine run at an NFC North crown, they have great players in plenty of positions, and if they continue building the way they have, this could be a solid playoff team in a year or two. Unfortunately though, these players sometimes get injured, and after not playing a single game together as a five man unit in 2021, this offensive line is going to have to wait at least 4 games to do it in 2022, as starting guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai was placed on Injured Reserve today.
Vatiai was a prized free agent acquisition in 2020, and after making the move from tackle to guard, he started 15 games there in Detroit last season, and played very well, and after starting the teams pre-season finale, there was confidence that this line would be together in Week 1. It's not yet been made clear what injury occurred or when with Vaitai, but Week 5 is now the earliest we'd see him return to the field, and for a team like Detroit that has little room for error, five weeks without a great guard is going to hurt the team.Lions claim OL Drew Forbes off waivers, place Halapoulivaati Vaitai on IR https://t.co/tAoVSFksbM
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) September 5, 2022
Detroit have two solid backup guards in Tommy Kramer and Logan Stenburg, and added 2019 sixth round pick Drew Forbes for depth, and while Detroit can certainly survive this loss, it's going to make winning games very tough to start the season.
Photo Credit: Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC
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