Bucs Need More Sacks – And Snaps – From Vea In 2022

The Bucs are expecting even bigger things from the team’s biggest player this year.

After giving nose tackle Vita Vea a five-year contract extension that will pay him an average of $17.775 million per year, Tampa Bay will need to see more from him in 2022.

And more of him.

Vea played in all but one game last year and logged 608 snaps on defense. Tampa Bay’s defense saw the field for a total of 1,093 snaps. That means Vea played 55.6% of downs last year.

By comparison, three-technique defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh played 718 snaps for the Bucs in 2021. Suh, who didn’t miss any games, played nearly 66% of the downs on defense at age 34.

Bucs DTs Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea Photo by: USA Today

With Tampa Bay likely moving on from Suh and Vea getting a hefty raise, the Bucs want to see him on the field more often in 2022.

“With Vita last year, I want to say he was averaging anywhere between 42 to 50 snaps a game,” Bucs co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said. “That’s really kind of where it needs to be. We’re on him about possibly getting his condition a little better so he can play more. A guy like that can be so impactful. We want him on the field as much as we can.”

Rodgers’ numbers were off. Vea averaged nearly 36 snaps per game last year, while Tampa Bay’s defense averaged 64 plays per game. In fact, Vea played 40 snaps or more in just five games in the 2021 season.

The most snaps Vea played was 61 at New Orleans in Week 8. The Bucs defense was on the field for 76 snaps that game, and Vea played 80% of them.

That game really skewed his playing time percentage. Most of the time, Vea was playing less than half of the team’s snaps.

In the playoffs, Vea was only on the field for 28 of Tampa Bay’s 66 snaps against Philadelphia (42.4%) and 34 of the 72 snaps against Los Angeles (47.2%). In those big games, the Bucs’ big man should be seeing the field for closer to two-thirds of the defense’s snaps.

Vea is capable of playing more downs. He established a career high with 749 snaps during the 2019 season, playing in all 16 games. Yet, conditioning has been an issue with the big, 347-pound defensive tackle.

Last year during training camp, former head coach Bruce Arians publicly stated that Vea needed to lose weight prior to the start of the 2021 campaign. In his Tuesday press conference, Rodgers said the team’s coaches want Vea to be in better condition this fall.

Tampa Bay’s co-defensive coordinator also said that Vea must step up in a leadership role this season in Suh’s absence.

“Inside, it would be Vita – he would have to step up and assume the role, which he should,” Rodgers said. “He comes to work every day, he’s here and knows what we have to do and get done. Through attrition, Vita should step up into the role up front.”

The Bucs need Vea to be more of a vocal leader, and the best place for that to happen is on the field with more playing time. When he’s on the field, Vea is very impactful, evidenced by a three-tackle, two-sack performance in a win at Atlanta in Week 12 last year.

Bucs NT Vita Vea Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Vea finished the season with a career-high four sacks, which aided his Pro Bowl selection. Rodgers believes he should double that number in 2022.

“I give him a hard time because I’m going into my 20th season coaching in this league – a lot of them spent up front – and he’s probably the biggest guy that plays third down in the history of the NFL,” Rodgers said. “So, the thing is, with [4] sacks – with his talent level, it should have easily been eight. As we went through our cut-ups some in the offseason and talking with him, there are some things we’ve got to improve, but 4.0 [sacks] should be a baseline. He should get more than that because we are leaving him out there on third down. He has the talent to do it.”

Following a Pro Bowl berth and a big pay raise, more is expected from Vea in 2022.

“He was going really good the year before and then he came back for the playoff run,” Rodgers said of Vea. “Then, the way he played this past year, he was getting more and more confident as the season went on. He was still favoring [his ankle] some and knocking the rust off, but as the season finished, I thought he was playing really well. Now the thing with him, he’s got to – and I’m harping on him – he’s the biggest guy on the field … but he’s got to play like that all the time.”

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