Halapoulivaati Vaitai took a step in the right direction against Raiders

Eagles second-year offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai has taken a lot of heat from the fan base since his disappointing Week 5 debut against Washington last year.

But Vaitai has proved his potential since that infamous first start. Monday against the Raiders was another step in the right direction. Vaitai didn’t allow a single pressure all game, according to Pro Football Focus.

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The criticisms of Vaitai’s performances have been largely justified. At times, he’s looked lost against refined, veteran pass rushers. But that wasn’t the case on Christmas.

Backup quarterback Nick Foles dropped back to pass on 43 plays, and Vaitai cleanly protected his blind side on every single one. All of the pressures on Foles were allowed by Chance Warmack and Lane Johnson, per PFF.

On this touchdown play, Vaitai (No. 72) gets just enough of Bruce Irvin (No. 51) to slow the pass rusher down and allow Foles to get the ball off to Jay Ajayi on a screen.

Vaitai came up big in a contest in which the Eagles needed his absolute best. Left guard Stefen Wisniewski was sidelined with an ankle injury, so Chance Warmack had to fill in between Vaitai and Jason Kelce.

Throughout his NFL career, Warmack has been a liability in pass protection. Though the young offensive lineman reunited with his college offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland, in Philadelphia, he’s still struggled to pass protect with the Eagles.

The most questionable play of the game for Vaitai was a result of poor pass blocking by Warmack. Oakland’s Irvin initially rushed toward Vaitai before being picked up by Warmack on a stunt. Denico Autry was then taken on by Vaitai, but Irvin beat Warmack to Foles and almost caused a turnover.

Other than that, which wasn’t even directly Vaitai’s fault, he executed at a high level throughout the game — despite not having the veteran Wisniewski next to him. The second-year player allowed no quarterback pressures after three straight games of allowing five or more pressures, according to PFF.

Vaitai might not be the Eagles’ left tackle of the future, but he certainly has talent and a chance to develop.

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