“He Thinks He’s Lawrence Taylor”
November 9th, 2022
Hunting Vita Vea.
In ancient football times, a true manbeast roamed the line of scrimmage and literally struck fear in the hearts of grown-ass football players.
That was Lawrence Taylor, the Giants linebacker who burst onto the scene in 1981 and won Defensive Player of the Year — as a rookie. And with the entire league trying to slow him down, he won the award again in 1982.
Taylor hunted the ball and quarterbacks, and was known for freelancing.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles says he sees a little of that in Vita Vea, whose season sack total jumped to 6 1/2 after Sunday’s game. Bowles said Vea might be thinking he’s more than a run-stuffer with great pass rush talent.
“He came off the ball, No. 1,” Bowles said of Vea’s strong Sunday. “He came off the ball. You know, he had his hands working. When he uses his hands and gets off the ball, he’s tough to stop.
“The problem is now he thinks he’s Lawrence Taylor and we gotta get him to play the run again because he’s going to jump around blocks. But he did a great job preparing all week. He wanted to lead by example and he got out there and he played.”
Joe thought it was interesting when Bowles said Vea, a team captain, wanted to lead by example on Sunday. Vea played just 35 snaps, a heck of a lot less than all three Rams defensive tackles.
It’s a little baffling to Joe that Vea is a hungry team leader in his prime with a fat contract but he doesn’t get more snaps.
November 9th, 2022 at 10:57 am
Conditioning. He doesn’t have it at the level you’d like. That’s all you need to know as to why he doesn’t play more snaps.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:15 am
@Mort
That’s speculation, nobody that posts on this site has first hand knowledge of Veas’ conditioning or why he’s continuing to split snaps with Nacho lol ya’ll are just guessing
November 9th, 2022 at 11:16 am
Stop worrying about Vita’s snap, he’ll worry about Hickory farms snaps
November 9th, 2022 at 11:20 am
When Vita plays like Lawrence Taylor on a consistent basis, I might fall for the comparison. Until then, I’m going to laugh at this one.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:20 am
In this week’s edition of Ronde Barber breaking down plays, Ronde showed a play where Vea split a double-team and got a sack. Ronde said his hands were the key on that play and Vea used his hands perfectly.
So he does have rush skills, no doubt. This whole “I’m LT now” mentality, well, that might be a problem.
When you’re hired to bag groceries, you don’t stop bagging to mop the floor (even if it needs it) – you just do your assigned job or the whole team isn’t as effective completing their mission.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:30 am
When do they leave for Germany ?
November 9th, 2022 at 11:31 am
Keep bagging D-rok it’s essential. Baffling to me too Joe. Well it used to be but not much surprises me now with this staff. Let’s not change what’s not working seems to be their motto
November 9th, 2022 at 11:40 am
I don’t think it’s too baffling… if Scott Miller doesn’t get hit in the face with the ball, the Bucs are protecting a lead in the final minutes, and Vea would’ve been needed at full strength.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:53 am
I remember playing with Taylor on Tecmo Bowl…..he was a game wrecker there too.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:56 am
Lol Scotty jumping for no reason on that touchdown drop and headbutting the ball like he is playing soccer almost made me shut the tv off.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:58 am
Joe … ‘It’s a little baffling to Joe that Vea is a hungry team leader in his prime with a fat contract but he doesn’t get more snaps.’
Interesting.
November 9th, 2022 at 11:59 am
Big contract or not, Vea plays his best games when his def snaps are limited (around 35-40, maybe a couple more). His best game IMO was the Rams game (35 def snaps) … 2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 2 TFLs, 3 solo tackles. His worst game IMO was the Chiefs game where he got his most snaps by far (57 def snaps) … 1 solo & 3 assist tackles; that’s all).
I’m sure that Todd Bowles (he who dislikes stats) knows full well after 4 years how best to use Vea. Getting Hicks back made all the difference.
November 9th, 2022 at 12:00 pm
If you want a 350lb+ man-beast who commands double teams, then you shouldn’t cry that he doesn’t have the stamina of an ultra-marathoner. Can’t have your cake and eat it too!
November 9th, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Agreed defense rules. There were a couple games earlier this year where he played more snaps and it showed (not in a good way). He looked slow and tired
November 9th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
He is the best pass rusher we have and the best run stuffer – but this is a team game
Vea is the least of our issues – dude is a stud
November 9th, 2022 at 12:45 pm
Bowelswich. Get lost in the Alps this week. Thank you.
November 9th, 2022 at 12:49 pm
He needs to learn how to land on QB’s like Tony Saragusa
November 9th, 2022 at 12:56 pm
Yep, Goat. I think he’d be like that Sheriff in Blazing Saddles who meets the hot German fraulein. “Auf wedersehen, baby!”
They’d get one look at his schnitzel and they’d never let him leave. LOL.
November 9th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Any player who thinks he’s “Lawrence Taylor” needs to go back and look at LT’s highlights…..
November 9th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
*wiedersehen, sorry. My high-school German is a little rusty.
November 9th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Apologies to German Buc!
November 9th, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Yes, getting Hicks back made all the difference to Vea getting his sacks.
I hope this success continues in Germany Sunday when we play the Seahawks.
November 9th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
@Dooley, you’re right, we don’t know about his conditioning definitively, but we are looking at a professional athlete (in his prime) who doesn’t play half a game, looks overweight, and is often kneeling or hands on knees. What are we to deduct?
@DR, Vea does seem to do better when limited to < 40 snaps. But it begs the question during those games when he exceeds his limited snap count…. why isn't he tearing it up those first 30 snaps? I suspect he is lazy and is awesome only when he want to be (i.e. playing for a contract, being called out by media, embarrassed). It strikes me as extremely unprofessional. Or maybe he just excels vs lesser competition. When he's on, he's amazing. When he's mailing it in, infuriating.
November 9th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
Imagine if LT actually dedicated himself to the game. Minus the hookers and blow.
November 9th, 2022 at 2:27 pm
@ChiBuc
You can deduce whatever you want, but your access to the inclusive facts about Vea’s physical conditioning are limited. Vita Vea has played an average of 64% of the defensive reps this season which he hasn’t done since 2019, partly due to the fact he broke his leg in 2020 and suffered a knee injury last season in week 10.
Again, deduce what you want, but for all you or anybody else questioning Veas’ conditioning are choosing a real weird time to nit pick about his conditioning while he’s on pace to reset career highs for tackles and sacks with what 8 games left to be played.
November 9th, 2022 at 4:35 pm
Lawerence Taylor & Ronnie Lott
When Titans Ruled The Game
November 10th, 2022 at 4:11 am
This is a confusing, incoherent comparison. How did he pull this one out of thin air? A linebacker, a defensive tackle. Completely different positions, completely different players.
Vita should be trying to be Warren Sapp instead.
November 10th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Imagine if he wanted to lead by example every week…