An injury to All-Pro guard Brandon Brooks might have saved Vaitai’s career with the Eagles. Despite starting 17 games in his first three seasons at left tackle due to injuries to Jason Peters, Eagles decided to draft rookie Andre Dillard in the first round, making Big V’s future in the starting lineup look slim.
Big V struggled at tackle. He had trouble setting up his pass set, either dropping too deep and got beat inside, or too little getting beaten with speed moves. Further, V looked athletically limited for the tackle position and got out of balance too often.