Pressure On To Get Vita Vea On The Field More
June 5th, 2022
More snaps, please.
Regular readers to this here site and certainly listeners to the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” know full well Joe is obsessed with the relatively few snaps Bucs studly nose tackle Vita Vea had down the stretch last year.
It sure seems like a sprained knee that forced him to sit out the Giants game in late November was a direct reason why Vea only reached the 40-snap count once (40 on the nose) in the final nine games including the playoffs. A guy like Vea needs to get on the field and stay there a whole lot more.
Now when Bucs officials were asked this offseason about Vea’s snap counts, answers were all over the map (and no coach has yet to point a finger at his knee sprain as a possible cause). Even Vea himself is testy about the subject.
So when Joe was researching new Bucs defensive lineman Akiem Hicks last night — yeah, that’s what Joe does on a Saturday night in June: Research Bucs topics — Joe found a very interesting angle on Hicks from Bears observer Brendan Sugrue of Bears Wire.
It seems when Hicks was able to play alongside a mountain of a man like Bears tackle Eddie Goldman, Hicks went crazy.
Akiem Hicks was at his best when Eddie Goldman was playing well. Now he’s lining up next to arguably the best NT in the league in Vita Vea. Could be a huge bounceback season for him if he’s healthy.
— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) May 31, 2022
Well, the phrase you hear and read a lot about Hicks is “if healthy.” That’s a very important element with Hicks and the Bucs in more ways than one.
If, as Segrue points out, Hicks was an animal when playing next to a beast like Goldman, it is highly imperative that Vea stay healthy, too. And stay on the field. Don’t forget that Vea is prone to getting nicked up.
Through four seasons, Vea hasn’t hit 10 starts in two of those years due to injuries. Only in his second season, 2019, did Vea start a full season.
So if Hicks is that much better playing alongside a beast like Goldman, then Vea staying on the field is even more imperative.
June 5th, 2022 at 8:25 am
I wanna hold your haaaaaand.
June 5th, 2022 at 8:27 am
Goldman is 6’3 325
What is vea. Like 350-360.
Bucs said you get paid big bucks , you stay on field
Vea got big deal. He needs to be on field
Hope he takes his weight seriously and loses a few. Or better weight on better diet. He can afford a personal chef now.
June 5th, 2022 at 8:40 am
Pressure is the key to getting off the field 😶
June 5th, 2022 at 9:07 am
It’s tough to keep the legs healthy when you are North of 335lbs. They just aren’t designed to carry that much load. One reason Suh stayed so healthy was because he took care of himself and ate right.
June 5th, 2022 at 9:26 am
Last year he had a groin injury and grade 2 ankle sprain. People are acting like it was something major. I think the key will be to keep him healthy.
Why haven’t we gotten a introduction interview with Hicks yet?
June 5th, 2022 at 9:37 am
We are a much better team when Vea is on the field.
Hicks will love playing with him.
June 5th, 2022 at 9:38 am
If I recall correctly, Suh didn’t do much in terms of sack when Vita was not in the lineup. Can’t wait to see Hick, Vita and Hall playing on the same line.
June 5th, 2022 at 9:45 am
70% Of the snaps is pretty reasonable. I don’t wanna hear about his weight… Suh hardly ever took a play off. Do you ever remember Sapp coming out of games?
Time to earn the money
June 5th, 2022 at 10:59 am
Bucs knew how many snaps he was capeable of when they gave him his extend tion. As he gets older, with more wear, and tear expecting him to play more snaps seems unreasonable. Best we can hope for is he stays healthy all season, and makes his 40 snaps a game really count.
June 5th, 2022 at 11:19 am
Vea at 335lbs would mean he is in better shape? …. OK….no matter what his weight he needs to be in better shape, better cardiovascular health should have been a off-season goal! It would be great to hear a story about him looking to have had an off-season body make over!
June 5th, 2022 at 11:52 am
Suh.
June 5th, 2022 at 12:05 pm
Brendan Sugrue … ‘Akiem Hicks was at his best when Eddie Goldman was playing well’.
I sometimes wonder if these guys ever check their stats BEFORE they write these things. Last year, Goldman had a grand total of 0.5 sacks, 3 QB Hurries & 0 QB Knockdowns (for 4 Pressures TOTAL) in 337 def snaps over 14 games. Hicks had 3.5 sacks, 2 QB Hurries & 5 QB Knockdowns (for 11 Pressures TOTAL) in 304 def snaps over 9 games.
So TOGETHER the 2 of them had 4 sacks, 5 QB Hurries, 5 QB Knockdowns for a TOTAL of 15 Pressures in a TOTAL of 641 def snaps.
Old man Suh … all by himself … gave us 6 sacks, 6 QB Hurries, 7 QB Knockdowns for a TOTAL of 19 Pressures in a TOTAL of 717 def snaps. This might be going out on a limb, but that seems like MORE than Goldman & Hicks contributed TOGETHER. Seems to be something wrong with this picture. But then again, I’m no marketing expert.
June 5th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
Defence Rules, I noticed that too.
June 5th, 2022 at 12:49 pm
The extra weight can’t help. Vea could stand to lose about 25 pounds. He’s what we call country strong. Hopefully the guy doesn’t eat his way out of the league.
June 5th, 2022 at 12:52 pm
Just a side note, the Ravens are almost assuredly going to cut Derek Wolfe pre June 1. Go get him Jace.
June 5th, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Just a thought … use him more on offense? How well can he block? Short yardage situations? Tight end reps, can he catch? Who would want to guard or tackle him?
June 5th, 2022 at 7:40 pm
Vita Vea is truly one of my favorite players on this team! He will be 27 this season and about to dominate this league.
June 5th, 2022 at 8:14 pm
The comparisons are overdue between Gerald McCoy and Vita Vea. There is a major difference in on the field play to note, IMO, before looking at each players ability to stay on the field. That being that Vea has been good in pressure situations where McCoy often disappeared.
In McCoy’s first 5 seasons he missed 3, 10, 0, 0 and 3 games.
In Vea’s first 4 seasons he missed 3, 0, 11 and 0 games.
While the pattern is varied, the results are extremely similar. Can we extrapolate from that that Vea is likely to miss 3 games this fall? No, that is impossible to determine but it is fun speculation.
Here is where Vea really loses ground. Snap Count.
McCoy went 87, 91, 74, 78 and 79% on defense. He also went 17, 19, 11, 17 and 14% on special teams.
Vea has 59, 66, 70 and 56% on defense. He has 17, 22, 33 and 21% on special teams.
Recall how the detractors were critical of how McCoy was often injured and compare his actual participation with Vita’s and one has to ask why Vea seems to get a pass. Plenty say he needs to play more but they’re not complaining in a way that puts that on the shoulders of Vea.
The fact the team is winning these days is likely a significant factor but I’m learning something about myself in this DT vs DT comparison. One, my expectations for McCoy seem unfair in hindsight. Two, I’m as guilty as many fans who allow winning as a team to lead me to being less critical of individual players. Even when they have earned more criticism than previous players whom I was very harsh towards.
Vea has to take personal responsibility in this and if it means playing at 10-20 pounds lighter, then he needs to get his ass on a stairmaster! The team must get 70% of the snaps from Vea.
June 5th, 2022 at 9:20 pm
WV, 8 minute abs. We guarantee just as good a workout as the 7 minute folks
June 6th, 2022 at 8:13 am
Don’t mind guys not playing all the snaps. You should be rotating anyway. Keeps everyone fresh and healthy. Vita was there when called upon, also some situations require different personnel. Vita didn’t cost them any games, stop being stat heads some of you. Run all these numbers and don’t know crap about football. LMAO! GOBUCS!
June 6th, 2022 at 10:45 pm
Nice contribution WVBuc.