The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the NFL’s best nose tackles in Vita Vea, but how does he rank among the league’s best interior defenders according to Pro Football Focus?
PFF’s recent list puts Vea at No. 21, and here’s their explanation for why he’s not higher:
Vea would have arguably the best highlight reel of any defensive tackle in the NFL. His wins can be absolutely absurd. At 350 pounds, he has the power to ragdoll 300-pound offensive linemen and the explosiveness to take advantage of it. He just doesn’t make that impact as consistently as he should.
Last season, he totaled 39 quarterback pressures and 30 defensive stops to go along with an 80.0 PFF overall grade. All are good marks, but none correspond to the physical dominance he can display at times.
While it’s true that Vea might not be as consistently dominant as you might expect him to be considering his rare combination of size and athleticism, it still feels like there’s not a strong case to be made that 20 other interior defensive lineman in the league are better than him right now.
Offseason reports suggest that Vea has shed some weight as he prepares for the 2024 season, so we might get the best version of him we’ve seen in a long time this year.
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