Sione Vaki Sold Lions on Honesty, Intelligence

How Utah RB made big impression on Lions.

Detroit Lions running back Sione Vaki (33) practices during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, May 30, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Detroit Lions value players who are hard-working and gritty and demonstrate a deep understanding of the game of football.

During the pre-draft process, the team flooded Sione Vaki with so much information to assess how the young two-way player would handle the stress.

"The first time that we had him in an interview setting, he was very honest. He was coming from a situation where he had played both sides of the football," said running backs coach Scottie Montgomery. "The academia part of what we do in the NFL, protection-wise, route-wise, all that stuff was his first time really hearing it."

Montgomery indicated he attempted to make it quite difficult for Vaki during the pre-draft process. The coaching staff quickly realized the intelligence level of the former Utah Utes running back/safety.

"I put him through every single thing. It was hard," Montgomery explained. "I know it was as hard as I could make it for him, but what he didn’t know, he was very honest. What we gave him, he was able to regurgitate really quickly."

When the team had another opportunity to talk with the talented prospect, it was clear the work had been done to watch film and learn about the scheme, even though he did not know exactly the name of what was being called.

"Then, the icing was probably the second time I got a chance to see him," Montgomery said. "When he came into the building, he had maybe watched all of our tape, just about 80% of our schemes, and he had personally drew all of them out versus different coverages, versus different fronts. He didn’t know the name of it, he just knew the technical side of it."

Additional reading

1.) Lions Post-June 1 Salary Cap Update

2.) Alex Anzalone Listed as Lions Most Overlooked Player

3.) Lions' 2024 Roster Bubble: Linebackers