Buried in the lede of the Detroit Lions' injury news dump on Monday morning was Isiah Pacheco's apparent MCL sprain. Pacheco, brought in this offseason to help replace some of the impact lost in the teams' David Montgomery trade, isn't expected to miss any regular season time, per head coach Dan Campbell.
With the Lions' preseason kicking off in just three days, this leaves the team thin at running back depth. Obviously, Jahmyr Gibbs will not be stepping foot on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, so the team will be running out their second and third-team options on that front.
This could open the door a bit more for Jacob Saylors to solidify a role within the Lions' offense as a special teams option and their RB3, a job that former draft pick Sione Vaki is fighting to retain despite his own injury woes this year.
Saylors has huge opportunity with Pacheco, Vaki injuries
Saylors came over to the Lions by way of the UFL last season and immediately became a decent piece of the Lions' return unit. He also got some burn in the preseason last year, but didn't crack the Lions' running back rotation consistently in the regular season despite some good showings there. He's also a fairly sure-handed receiving option as a running back, which is the kind of versatility the Lions like to utilize with Gibbs.
Head coach Dan Campbell recently spoke on Saylors' potential for the Lions:
"He's been in our system. He's banked a lot of reps, particularly on special teams, but he's been in that room. He's been in there with (Tashard) Choice and and (Jahmyr) Gibbs and (David) Montgomery and this year with Isaiah (Pacheco). But he knows the system, and he's a smart guy."
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Vaki and Saylors are competing for essentially the same spot on the Lions roster. Competition between these two backs can only help them grow, but these injuries are only going to continue to favor Saylors, not Vaki. He's already on the roster bubble after another quiet year from him, and it's beginning to look like he's just another 2024 draft pick that isn't panning out for Detroit.
Saylors, on the other hand, seems to be a diamond in the rough found by the Lions front office, and he's likely in line for major snaps on Thursday as Detroit tries to round out their special teams unit and depth behind Gibbs.
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