Sione Vaki emerges as Lions' change-of-pace back to pair with Jahmyr Gibbs

Published November 3, 2026 03:24 PM Even though the Lions have only played seven games and most teams have played eight, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs is leading the NFL with 191 touches — a huge workload that raises questions about whether Detroit needs a player to share carries with Gibbs, the way David Montgomery had done before he was traded to Houston.Enter Sione Vaki.Vaki had a career-high 11 carries and a career-high 65 yards in Sunday’s win over the Vikings, and his direct running style was a valuable change of pace for the Lions to have while Gibbs got some breathers between his own 23 carries for 153 yards.Lions coach Dan Campbell emphasized after the game that the Lions told Vaki they needed him to step up against the Vikings, and Vaki answered the bell.“Vaki was one of the guys we challenged this week going into this game,” Campbell said. “We were going to need him. He needed to show up. He was going to need to get some carries for us, some significant carries. They needed to be real yards, and he was going to need to be able to pass protect for us. And I thought he took a big step today. That’s a huge step. He gained a lot of trust today, a ton.” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said the entire offense is excited about what Vaki can bring.“Vaki ran his tail off,” Goff said. “And when he’s able to do that, it just gives Gibbs that much more of a breath on the sideline to come back and do his thing at his full capacity. And the O-line loved it. They loved the challenge of, like, we’re going to keep leaning on you guys. And I thought they played great.”The Lions think they have the best running back in the league in Gibbs. If Vaki can prove to be one of the better backup running backs in the league, the Lions’ running game will be in very good shape.