The Tampa Bay Buccaneers used their first round pick on Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea and Bucs fans are pretty divided on the choice.
Jason Licht traded the seventh overall pick of the draft in order to accumulate picks 53 and 56 from the Buffalo Bills in addition to the number twelve pick. After seeing two more quarterbacks go, things appeared to be falling into place for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to still select Florida State safety Derwin James while accumulating those extra pick.
Then, out of nowhere, the pick was Washington defensive tackle Tevita Tuliakiono Tuipuloto Mosese Va’Hae Faletau Vea – better known as Vita Vea.
Vea is a darn good defensive tackle and fits the continued effort to completely transform what was the worst defensive line in the NFL in 2017. Once the pick was announced, Buccaneers fans took to Twitter to express their feelings;
https://twitter.com/jacobstowww/status/989683270135709696
Waste of a pick
— D.B a.k.a TheBoss (@BigBadBuc) April 27, 2018
Not happy. Think it should have been James
— Nathan Throckmorton (@throck77_nathan) April 27, 2018
Sucks
— James Eddie Roberts jr. (@JamesRobe2) April 27, 2018
Trash
— Tayfun (@tydikmen) April 27, 2018
Wanted Derwin. Don’t know how you pass on the best saftey in the draft🤷🏼♂️
— Kyle Fox 🌵 (@_kfox) April 27, 2018
Terrible pick
— Gabe Parks (@Ga15275Parks) April 27, 2018
Not happy. Played it perfectly to get Derwin and we blew it on a non need.
— Miller Lite Bob (@MillerLiteBobby) April 27, 2018
Yeah, it wasn’t well received by some. One thing to keep in mind – as is not the case with all of the above replies – is when FSU Bucs fans don’t see a Nole drafted to the Buccaneers, they get upset. Every year it’s the same thing – there’s a Seminoles player that the Bucs “have” to take and this years player was Derwin James. It didn’t happen, so many of them are upset.
On the other hand, there are plenty that saw the pick differently;
Love it wasnt thinking him was thinking James but I love that pick beef up the trenches
— Ryan Haze (@BucHead588) April 27, 2018
I liked it! Win up front. And 3 seconds for the moment? I wanna see them come back into the first.
— Josh (@Jrusty1989) April 27, 2018
Loved it
— JLaw (@James5585) April 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/IcewaterOlson/status/989677893168050176
Getting nasty on the D line, I LOVE it
— Robbie G. (@thunderchunkyPA) April 27, 2018
A++++++
— Walt (@emw9819) April 27, 2018
The rush will be fantastic and never tired
— Carter Swayze (@IamSwayzze) April 27, 2018
We were literally LAST in sacks last year. It starts up front. This was a good pick. FA did not fix our D Line
— Jason (@The74727) April 27, 2018
Non need? Our Dline has been a need for a decade. With a Dline line u can hide a lot in the secondary. Football 101
— Eric Phillips (@Ep41382) April 27, 2018
— Jacen Santiago (@BigBlockJacen) April 27, 2018
Finally, from a member of his new team;
HEREEEEEE WEEEEEEE GOOOOOOO!!!
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) April 27, 2018
I find it a bit humorous that all the people that were screaming about how this team had no pass rush, no sacks, couldn’t stop the run, and couldn’t get Gerald McCoy any help are now angry that the main focus of the offseason has been fixing that exact issue.
The secondary is going to look a lot better when quarterbacks don’t have all day to throw the ball and pick them apart. Look at the Eagles’ super bowl run. They had a constant rotation of effective defensive linemen who were always fresh.
Next: Buccaneers Select Vita Vea
You build from the front to the back, and with the acquisition of two more second round picks, the secondary will still have the opportunity to be addressed.