The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are really about to enter a great experiment. Is it better to play it safe or play the risk it or biscuit game? Is it better to have a game manager or someone who makes great throws but also make mistakes? The Bucs won’t have a better offense in 2020. I can promise you that. However, they might have a much better defense. A year ago, the Bucs defense was not put in the best position to succeed. Tom Brady alone likely isn’t going to make or break the 2020 Bucs season. Other factors will matter. Vita Vea is one of those players.
There are two possible scenarios for the Bucs this year. Tampa will be in shootouts again but this time Brady doesn’t have enough juice to win any of them. Scenario two, the Tampa defense is really good and Brady does just enough to win some games. The Bucs will have to win some small battles each and every Sunday. The run game and defending the run is more important than ever in Tampa Bay.
Enter Vita Vea. I go back to the draft grades I gave out to the Bucs when they drafted Vea in the first round out of the University of Washington.
“Vita Vea is very much a coin flip in the first round. If he’s Haloti Ngata then hats off the Tampa for making the pick. If he’s Danny Shelton than this pick stinks.”
I think the pick has gone pretty predictable. Vea isn’t as good as Ngata but he’s absolutely better than Shelton. In reality, Vea has lived up to his potential. It’s not a failed pick but Vea has played as advertised coming out of college. Vea is a great run defender who can provide some* pass rush on occasion. This is what Tampa should have expected when they drafted him. Vita Vea has lived up to expectations.
Vea is important because he’s changed the perception of the Bucs run defense. In 2018, the Buccaneers had the 31st run defense according to DVOA. In 2019, Tampa ranked 1st in that same category. That’s all because of Vea. The former first rounder is 6-foot-4, 350, and clogs up the middle about as well as anyone in the NFL. That’s what the Bucs drafted him to do.
The problem is Tampa can’t run the ball. Ronald Jones has been a disappointment. Boy, did I miss on that one. Peyton Barber was one of the worst running backs in the NFL last year and Jones couldn’t beat him out for the starter job. Jones hasn’t been anything special since being drafted in the 2nd round. Tampa can stop the run, but they can’t run it either.
It’s part of the reason why the Bucs have been in so many shootouts. Both teams are trying to chuck it down field because neither can run the ball. If that’s the case in 2020, Tampa is screwed. Tom Brady isn’t winning anything that way at this stage of his career. He needs a running game.
The 2020 NFL Draft includes an important storyline. Can Tampa win the running game battle? With 43-year-old Tom Brady as your quarterback, it’s a battle they have to win. Vita Vea helps them stop the run and has been a successful pick by the Bucs. Now Tampa Bay has to actually be able to run the ball. They can’t win shootouts in 2020. Luckily, they have a nose tackle to help them win a different kind of battle.
