Todd Bowles: Calijah Kancey Can Be “Unstoppable”
November 25th, 2024
Becoming a force.
There were a couple of times yesterday that Joe thought it was No. 99 flying through the line to crush Giants quarterback Tommy Cutlets.
Calijah Kancey had one sack yesterday and now has four in his last three games. Joe thinks it’s fair to say he is fully recovered from his calf injury suffered in training camp (again) this summer.
With the play of Kancey, all of a sudden it appears Vita Vea has been unleashed. If those two guys play to their potential, opposing quarterbacks better have life insurance policies up to date.
Bowles absolutely raved about Kancey today. In fact, Joe was struck by what Bowles said because Bowles is always somewhat measured in his responses.
“When he uses his hands, he is unstoppable,” Bowles said of the second-year Pitt product. “When he doesn’t use his hands, that’s when he tends to gets stuck a little bit.
“He’s using his hands right now quite a bit. He’s just now unlocking his potential.”
Joe absolutely loved how Vea completely freight-trained Giants center John Michael Schmitz Jr. and crushed Cutlets yesterday. Kancey swears Vea is just out there having fun, no ill will.
“Seeing Vita do that without even being mad, literally cracking jokes in the huddle or just his mind is somewhere else, just joking around,” Kancey claimed. “Actually seeing him do that to a grown man is crazy, without even being mad or p!ssed off or anything so imagine him p!ssed off.”
That is a frightening thought. And speaking of frightening, when Vea went in at fullback on Sean Tucker’s short touchdown run and was the lead blocker through the hole, Giants linebackers backed off. They wanted no part of that smoke.
Kancey said Vea playing fullback is a tailback’s best friend.
“I was ready for him to get the ball,” Kancey said. “But if you see him at fullback, you’ll definitely run behind him.”
Vea already caught a touchdown pass at Atlanta in 2019. Joe would love to see him take a few handoffs and slam into the middle of a defensive line, sort of like how Mike Ditka used Refrigerator Perry with the Bears years ago.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:04 pm
I want a Vita flat pass on the goal line. Let the big man get his td
November 25th, 2024 at 3:12 pm
This team reminds me a little of that Bears team from 1985. Maybe it’s McMahons QB style. I know Bears fans would be mad I’d dare compare our defense to theirs. But if like Kancey says we could get Vita playing “pissed off” who knows what our defensive ceiling might be.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:13 pm
He’s fun to watch. And you didn’t mention that one handed tackle he made on the RB trying to run up the middle.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:44 pm
Bowles especially likes how Kancey drops in coverage. It’s criminal to even have that design in your playbook.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:50 pm
I saw that when VEA was the fullback. We rewound it a few times laughing because he chipped the guy being blocked on his right, The linebacker coming to his left just got out of the way and then there was another DB who stayed out of the way on the right. He basically made a hole through three people and really didn’t have to touch any of them. It was awesome.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:51 pm
YAYA needs to start winning one on one. There is no reason he should not have a sack per game coming down the stretch with those two playing like that
November 25th, 2024 at 4:43 pm
Who needs an edge rush when you got push like that up the middle
November 25th, 2024 at 5:21 pm
I’m so happy we drafted Vea instead of that garbage safety all the FSU homers were crying about us not drafting. Can’t even remember that scrubs name
November 25th, 2024 at 5:37 pm
sometime the little fish swims with the big whale…
that’s kancey and vita…
and them boyz be gettin’ it dun !
November 25th, 2024 at 5:47 pm
Vea is a game changer when healthy. Haloti Nagta level of player when healthy and on the field. More powerful version, not as durable or the same level of stamina. But his ceiling is the same, he just has to be healthy and motivated. Having Kancy back healthy who has Aaron Donald burst the sky is the limit for those two together
November 25th, 2024 at 6:08 pm
The second time was no charm. Tucker fumbled it and in typical Coich fashion, the ball bounced around on the ground for half an hour before Baker saw it and recovered it. Vea got handled that time and Bucs were very lucky. I’d rather see Hainsey there.
November 25th, 2024 at 6:18 pm
Man we have hit it big with our interior d line picks for sure. Keepin these guys on the field is the key. Coen had adjusted on the fly with our WRs sidelined, that’s the way to keep the whole roster engaged and valuable. 3 RBs and 88 steppin up.
Now we need the D to be creative. Hope we can get Tykee back soon.
November 25th, 2024 at 6:37 pm
I was at that Atlanta game when he scored, the Falcon fans were so pissed off it was great. Chris Godwin had a huge day also, totally worth the trip!
November 25th, 2024 at 10:20 pm
Chicago’s Perry was a slob who was all media hype. Vea is the real deal. I like Kancey but he only had one sack yesterday against a bad Giants line. He’s no Lee Roy Selmon or Warren Sapp yet.
November 26th, 2024 at 11:46 am
4th and 1?
Super Bowl?
Vea up the middle.
He was a RB in high school.
I bet he’s a better runner than FB.
Not giving Vea the ball is dumb.
It’s like when we had Demar Dotson. A 6 foot 8 Division 1 NCAA basketball player.
And we never threw him one pass.
I mean how dumb can some coaches be?
Demar Dotson was a BASKETBALL player at Mississippi State.
So he had hands.
Anyway. Dot was a badass RT. Also, Lovie cutting Donald Penn was a crime against humanity!