'It starts with him': Lions zeroed in on key Buccaneers defender Vita Vea
Nolan Bianchi
The Detroit News
Allen Park — He’s mean, anything but lean, and an interior pressure machine.
He’s Vita Vea, the hulking Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle who figures to be a disruptor in both the run and pass game during the Detroit Lions’ Week 6 showdown at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.
“He is something else in there,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s a big, powerful man. He’s hard to move. He can push the pocket, so … I think just in the run game, it starts there with him.”
Vea (6-foot-4, 347 pounds) is in the midst of his sixth NFL season, and it seems he’s only getting better. The former No. 12 pick (in 2018) accomplished career-highs last season in sacks (6.5), quarterback hits (13) and tackles for loss (seven), and this year, is on pace to break those personal bests. Through four games, he has 3.5 sacks, 10 pressures, and five quarterback hits.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff called Vea “one of the best players at his position in the league.”
“He can get in the backfield and cause some problems,” Goff said.
The Lions do have an advantage most other teams don’t, however: Frank Ragnow. The sixth-year Detroit center was selected eight picks after Vea in the 2018 draft, and the two have faced off once prior, in 2019. Back in that matchup, Vea was held to a pretty quiet day over his 48 snaps and did not make the box score.
Ragnow’s assessment of Vea is pretty straightforward. “Very good back then and very good now,” he said. “Very strong, I think he’s added a couple more moves to his repertoire, but (he’s a) very good player for how big he is, and how well he can move is pretty incredible. So it’s definitely a big challenge up front.
“(He’s) just a massive human being, making a lot of offensive linemen look like kids, really. He’s strong and you can see it.”
The Lions have seen their fair share of massive defensive tackles so far through this season. They got Carolina’s Derrick Brown a week ago and Atlanta’s Calais Campbell and Grady Jarrett in Week 3.
One thing that’ll make the task a little difficult this week is a handful of nagging injuries to the team’s offensive guards.
While the Lions have gotten great play from backup right guard Graham Glasgow following an injury to Halapoulivaati Vaitai, left guard Jonah Jackson was seen leaving Ford Field in a walking boot after Sunday’s game and was a non-participant in Wednesday and Thursday practices. While the depth is wearing thin, there’s no place in Detroit’s locker room where the next-man-up mentality is exemplified more than on the offensive line.
“I think a big thing that (offensive line coach) Hank (Fraley) does is just communicate with us and talk about it going into the week, not only making sure he prepares the starting five, but everybody in that room, and he’s doing a great job of that,” Ragnow said.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @nolanbianchi
Nolan Bianchi
The Detroit News
Allen Park — He’s mean, anything but lean, and an interior pressure machine.
He’s Vita Vea, the hulking Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle who figures to be a disruptor in both the run and pass game during the Detroit Lions’ Week 6 showdown at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.
“He is something else in there,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “He’s a big, powerful man. He’s hard to move. He can push the pocket, so … I think just in the run game, it starts there with him.”
Vea (6-foot-4, 347 pounds) is in the midst of his sixth NFL season, and it seems he’s only getting better. The former No. 12 pick (in 2018) accomplished career-highs last season in sacks (6.5), quarterback hits (13) and tackles for loss (seven), and this year, is on pace to break those personal bests. Through four games, he has 3.5 sacks, 10 pressures, and five quarterback hits.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff called Vea “one of the best players at his position in the league.”
“He can get in the backfield and cause some problems,” Goff said.
The Lions do have an advantage most other teams don’t, however: Frank Ragnow. The sixth-year Detroit center was selected eight picks after Vea in the 2018 draft, and the two have faced off once prior, in 2019. Back in that matchup, Vea was held to a pretty quiet day over his 48 snaps and did not make the box score.
Ragnow’s assessment of Vea is pretty straightforward. “Very good back then and very good now,” he said. “Very strong, I think he’s added a couple more moves to his repertoire, but (he’s a) very good player for how big he is, and how well he can move is pretty incredible. So it’s definitely a big challenge up front.
“(He’s) just a massive human being, making a lot of offensive linemen look like kids, really. He’s strong and you can see it.”
The Lions have seen their fair share of massive defensive tackles so far through this season. They got Carolina’s Derrick Brown a week ago and Atlanta’s Calais Campbell and Grady Jarrett in Week 3.
One thing that’ll make the task a little difficult this week is a handful of nagging injuries to the team’s offensive guards.
While the Lions have gotten great play from backup right guard Graham Glasgow following an injury to Halapoulivaati Vaitai, left guard Jonah Jackson was seen leaving Ford Field in a walking boot after Sunday’s game and was a non-participant in Wednesday and Thursday practices. While the depth is wearing thin, there’s no place in Detroit’s locker room where the next-man-up mentality is exemplified more than on the offensive line.
“I think a big thing that (offensive line coach) Hank (Fraley) does is just communicate with us and talk about it going into the week, not only making sure he prepares the starting five, but everybody in that room, and he’s doing a great job of that,” Ragnow said.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @nolanbianchi
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