Vita Vea Bucs’ Best Pass Rusher?
July 6th, 2026
Double-teams don’t work on him.
Joe and the Bucs have different definitions of a pass rush.
Joe’s definition is simple: Put the quarterback on his ass. There isn’t a quarterback in the league who can complete a pass while prone on the turf (though Doug Williams once threw a touchdown pass sitting down).
The Bucs, it seems, are good if not content with almost-sacks (pressures), which has worked out wonderfully in recent years, no?
But if pressures are your kind of thing, you’ve got to love Vita Vea. Per NFL senior researcher Tony Holzman-Escarenoin, only a handful of defenders after being chipped or double-teamed have as many almost-sacks as Vea.
Problem: The NFL ain’t horseshoes or hand grenades. Close doesn’t matter other than making someone feel better after failure.
But reading this stat, Joe recalls the words of YaYa Diaby. The Bucs’ outside linebacker a few times this summer has said if the Bucs’ front-seven is healthy, who are teams going to block? Rueben Bain, Calijah Kancey, A’Shawn Robinson/Al-Quadin Muhammad, YaYa and Vita can’t all be blocked and certainly will not all be double-teamed.
So if teams are going to worry about edge rushers, does that mean Kancey and Vita are going to have field days this fall? Or, if teams are going to worry about Kancey and Vita, does that mean YaYa, Bain and ALQ will light up quarterbacks?
July 6th, 2026 at 5:01 am
Step 1: get off the ball
Step 2: execute rush plan
Step 3: ????
The only thing about applying pressure that convoluted is the outcome. You’d be happy with an incompletion, a sack, or turnover. What you don’t want is a completion or meaningful gain.
As this applies to Vita, it’s not really a shocking thing to see him ranked this high generating pressure while being chipped or double. We’ve seen him move NFL sized men effortless on too many occasions to take his ability to win for granted. So if he’s walking a guard back and the center puts a shoulder into him, it’s like shooting an arrow at a tank and the walk back continues. I’d love for Vita to get home more often, but he’s disruptive or can be disruptive defending any play run/pass.
July 6th, 2026 at 5:27 am
Great points Warren. I too would love to see Vita get home even more (but I can say that about all of the Bucs D-linemen), but I must also note that I am thoroughly impressed by the amount pressure/sacks that he is able to generate. For a man his size, he does a heck of a job. I can guarantee there aren’t many 330+ Pound men in NFL history that create as much pressure/get as many sacks as he does.
July 6th, 2026 at 5:32 am
After making my post, I went and looked it up. Vita does indeed have the most (35) sacks in NFL history for guys weighing over 330 lbs. Followed by Ted Washington (34.5), Dexter Lawrence (30.5) and Vince Wilfork. Pretty impressive.
July 6th, 2026 at 5:38 am
KOD: If the Bucs’ front-seven is healthy, who are teams going to block? Something tells me the teams will figure how to block ALL of them, with Bowles GREAT schemes. Again, YaYa…put up or STFU!
July 6th, 2026 at 5:53 am
Vita is and has been our most consistent pass rusher while consistently being double/tripled team at times for the last few years. We know his shelf life is dwindling for a man his size and position, I just hope his time with Suh has paid off to increase his playing time. If we want to win, Vita is a must keep but we will know before the trade deadline where we stand with record, health, and Vita.
July 6th, 2026 at 6:04 am
Ok Joe it’s still Pre-season for everybody in the Tampa media getting to know Al-Quadin Muhammad! Since the first time I heard he was coming to Tampa every Detroit fan site I went to referred to the man as AQM I also think he has been going by that for awhile but I guess you decided it’s time for him to switch it up😂😂😂😂
July 6th, 2026 at 6:45 am
Todd isn’t Bill (or Bill for that matter) but give him JPP and Shaq and LFG. Let’s see what this defense looks like this year with the new players and then Joe can crow all he wants about how Todd finally saw the light. Yeesh!
July 6th, 2026 at 7:10 am
I guess I’m going to get obvious here. Modern quarterbacks have gotten a a whole lot more mobile and athletic than they were back when I was young. Oh, we had a few mobile slingers. They weren’t really outright runners for the most part, but they were harder to catch than most. Guys like Roger the Dodger and Fran Tarkington come to mind. Later, Michael Vick was a big deal. Now they’re all scramblers. Even Baker. Also, back in the old days QBs couldn’t just sling it into the stands like they can today. The game has evolved. When I was a kid every single team always ran on first and second down. As teams started to pass more they had to change the rules to accommodate extra time it took to get everyone back for another snap. Games started running way over 3 hours. Vea is a great player and remarkably quick for 350 lbs, but he never was and never will be a 10 sack kinda guy.
.
July 6th, 2026 at 7:46 am
PAY HIM!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
July 6th, 2026 at 8:00 am
Doug Williams once threw a touchdown pass sitting down)
__________
Saw it live!
July 6th, 2026 at 8:12 am
Trade “sit in” Vea and his part time work load before he becomes a cap liability in his declining years.
July 6th, 2026 at 8:22 am
YaYa
July 6th, 2026 at 8:54 am
VV is the best player on the roster.
July 6th, 2026 at 8:54 am
Bye bye …
July 6th, 2026 at 9:07 am
Man from that pic, it goes to show you Vita does it all with innate god given strength and not some sort of ripped weight lifter
July 6th, 2026 at 9:33 am
I find this stat from NFL Senior writer Tony Holzman-Escarenoin as an interesting and good stat but nothing that key when it comes to evaluating how good a player overall might be.
For instance, we see in Joe’s next article, that he uses this same researcher on some stat that may be less important than this, proclaim that Baker Mayfield is clutch.
Both stats have some value, but neither are key to prove that either player is elite.
Let’s not forget that we have eyeballs to tell us that both Vita Vea and Baker Mayfield are good players, but neither are elite.
July 6th, 2026 at 10:07 am
Geno712. All Pro centers and guards would tell you that Vita Vea is elite. Top shelf offensive coordinators around the league would tell you Baker Mayfield is elite. So Geno712, you say that Vea and Mayfield aren’t elite? Hmm? Ok, the butthoIe and the proverbial hole in the ground is a fine line, isn’t it Geno712? It’s really not to most of us Geno712. But nice try.
July 6th, 2026 at 11:06 am
Looks like Vita has been hanging out with Toad Bowels eating KitKats.
Todd is the Sultan of Suck!
July 6th, 2026 at 11:13 am
Awesome!
July 6th, 2026 at 11:47 am
We know why the Bucs pass rush sucks and it has nothing to do with the players. It’s a finer point of the bigger story. The whole (hole) in this case is far worse than the sum of the parts.
In 2025,
2-7
3rd and 28
8-9 after 6-2
Mike Evans and the others
The QB throwing 4th quarter interceptions like he was Dilfer
“Coaches have done everything. Can’t do anything else” to stop the carnage.”
Offense, Defense and Special Teams all sucked down the stretch.
Only one person is responsible for all three phases, which all sucked.
He is still with the team. Why Mike Evans isn’t.
July 6th, 2026 at 12:02 pm
admin, in 1984 Doug Williams led the Oklahoma Outlaws to a USFL championship in Tulsa. I managed to get to a game or 2 and remember thinking “ how the heck did Tampa let this guy get away”. Not long afterward, he put together that cold cocking in the Super Bowl. He was a great player.
July 6th, 2026 at 12:08 pm
Totally wrong on previous post. The Outlaws didn’t win the championship. I must have been at one of their big wins in Tulsa and confused it with a championship. But Doug Williams was the best player on the field.
July 6th, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Doug Williams has more SB rings than Faker Suckfield ever will.
July 6th, 2026 at 12:35 pm
Doug Williams – should have been a Buccaneer for life.
Mike Evans – should have been a Buccaneer for life.
It took 13 seasons for the Bucs to make it back to the playoffs after ownership forked Doug over.
It might be at least that many this time. Mike wears #13. Coincidence?
July 6th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Jason Kelce
Jason said he was pondering retirement, he faced off against Vea, and the idea of never having to line up against Vea again made the decision a no brainer.