Calijah Kancey Surprised How Football Is So Easy For Vita Vea
April 15th, 2024
Football is a simple game.
Call Vita Vea the Stan Musial of defensive tackles.
For those who are not baseball fans or historians, when Stan Musial retired in 1963, he was thought to have been one of the greatest hitters who ever played. Only Ty Cobb had more hits.
Most of Musial’s many records have since been surpassed.
In the PBS documentary “Baseball,” Musial’s former teammate, Curt Flood, said he once asked Musial for his secret to hitting. Musial, Flood said, just shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Wait for a good pitch and hit the sh!t out of it.”
“Hitting,” Flood said, “was that easy for him.”
To hear Bucs defensive tackle Calijah Kancey talk, football is that easy for Vea.
Kancey spoke today at One Buc Palace as OTAs began. The first phase of OTAs is pretty much classroom sessions and conditioning. Kancey began talking about his brother-in-arms, Pro Bowler Vea. And Kancey said he was blown away with Vea’s game intelligence.
“I learned a lot from Vita,” Kancey said. “Just being in the room with him, being on the field with him. My first day I actually took a rep with him.
“He told me everything to do before we even got out of the huddle. I’m like, ‘Damn. Is it that easy?’
“That just lets you know what type of a guy he is. He’s on top of everything. He knows the formation. He knows what to expect. He knows the person we are going against. So [Vea] is really a plus for me.”
So Kancey said his development goal is to reach a level that the NFL is as easy for him as it was in college at Pitt — and for football to be as simple as it is for Vea.
Kancey wants to know what to expect on a given play before he breaks the huddle.
April 15th, 2024 at 1:43 pm
Film study. Weakness for a lot of guys depending on athleticism in college and they get shocked in the NFL where that doesn’t cut it. The guys that stick and excel as they get older…smart.
April 15th, 2024 at 1:53 pm
As excited as I am for the potential in the secondary, I am most excited this season to watch Calijah play. He’s gonna be such a disruptive force in the middle. Top 5 pass rushing DT by seasons end if he isn’t already. That guy was all over the backfield 2nd half of last year.
Have had to add Murphy and Newton to my wish list of 1st round options.
Verse, Latu, JPJ, Barton, Newton, Murphy, Thomas Jr, McConkey, Kool-Aid and Dejean. Close to that order, CB last as a priority imo.
April 15th, 2024 at 2:07 pm
@Saskbucs
My top players pretty much the same as yours although I wouldn’t go wr in the first round with how deep this class is at that position. I’d rather see Tampa snagging a DT to pair with Kancey and Vea than a corner as well, only if Newton or Murphy are still there. Verse, JPJ, Latu are my top 3 hope one is there but I doubt it. I’m not concerned with Latu’s neck if he played through it for two years already.
April 15th, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Buckeyebuckchuck Says:
April 15th, 2024 at 1:43 pm
Film study. Weakness for a lot of guys depending on athleticism in college and they get shocked in the NFL where that doesn’t cut it. The guys that stick and excel as they get older…smart.
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Perhaps DW45 was of that ilk. He didn’t improve once he got into the league and if you don’t improve while DC’s are scheming for you, your preformancr is going to decline drastically!!
April 15th, 2024 at 2:36 pm
Hmmmm…wondering if Stan Musial was only on the field for+/- 60% of the time.
April 15th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
It’d be better if Vea could play 60% or more of the snaps.
April 15th, 2024 at 3:12 pm
So, big guys aren’t that dumb after all.
April 15th, 2024 at 3:27 pm
Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:
April 15th, 2024 at 2:36 pm
Hmmmm…wondering if Stan Musial was only on the field for+/- 60% of the time.
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Agree.
VV doesn’t play enough.
April 15th, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Excellent goal.
One piece of advice to Kancey and Diaby. Do not get caught up in games with blockers. Keep eyes and awareness on who has the ball. A guy might not make the actual play, but he might turn a ball carrier to a teammate who can smack the ever loving Jesus out of him. The D-Line and pass rushers need to be like a four or five fingered hand squeezing in on the QB or RB like a well oiled hydraulic vice bent on squeezing the life out of an offense.
Just make sure to not hit too hard when you grab the flag from the belt of the ball carrier. Are we one or two flags required in NFL?
Sigh . . . .
April 15th, 2024 at 4:13 pm
Gholston resigned with the Bucs for one more year!
April 15th, 2024 at 4:17 pm
#92 is about as solid as they come, on and off the field.
April 15th, 2024 at 4:24 pm
OMG. Will Gholston is back! YAY!!
April 15th, 2024 at 4:36 pm
@connor50. Yeah I agree. I don’t want a WR or CB in round 1 or 2 for that matter. Sticking to the trenches early has been working out well in recent years. I assume that one of those 6 players (Verse, Latu, Murphy, Newton, JPJ, Barton) will be there and I hope that’s the pick. If all 6 are gone, I am ok with WR if it’s Thomas or McConkey, maybe AD Mitchell. Ok with a CB as well but if all 6 gone, Thomas is gone… I’d be hoping for a trade back, add another top 100 pick and draft Frazier if he’s not gone.
April 15th, 2024 at 4:39 pm
Same! Really think Kancey is going to wreck people this fall!
April 15th, 2024 at 6:34 pm
Joe Says:
April 15th, 2024 at 4:39 pm
As excited as I am for the potential in the secondary, I am most excited this season to watch Calijah play.
Same! Really think Kancey is going to wreck people this fall!
^^^^^
He had it figured out at the end of the season. He’s a lock for double-digit sacks.
April 15th, 2024 at 7:58 pm
Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:
April 15th, 2024 at 2:36 pm
Hmmmm…wondering if Stan Musial was only on the field for+/- 60% of the time.
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Give it a rest. Vita weighs 350 lbs and is trying to bench press 600 lbs every play. Nose tackles play limited snaps, get over it
April 15th, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Not just that, but Joe is very confident that Bucs have all kinds of data that shows after X-amount of snaps, Vea’s production slips. Otherwise, he’d be out there more.
April 15th, 2024 at 10:17 pm
Vea is a beast. J**is probably right about the snap count. Todd is noted for some exotic scheming, however.
Go Bucs!!!
April 15th, 2024 at 11:24 pm
Why did Vea only play a few plays at D end last year? He had a sack and over powered the tackle who had no help. I figure just showing him at d end a few plays a games will give the coordinator nightmares.
April 16th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
Pretty cool insight / story.
I have high hopes / expectations for the 2 of them this year.