The Bucs defense is rounding into form. After several games where the unit flashed its potential – the second half against the Texans, the first three quarters against the Jets, the second half against the Eagles, the first half against the Seahawks, the second half against the 49ers – Tampa Bay finally put it all together in New Orleans. Tampa Bay’s defense allowed just 275 yards of total offense to the Saints and forced four turnovers in a defensive rout.

The Bucs defense is now third in EPA/play, sixth in dropback EPA/play, third in rush EPA/play and third in rush success rate. There are plenty of reasons why Tampa Bay’s defense is on the rise. According to former Super Bowl-winning Bucs head coach Jon Gruden, it starts with the spine of the defense.

When he was asked about this year’s defense during a recent appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast, the Bucs Ring of Honor inductee was effusive in his praise of Todd Bowles’ unit.

Former Bucs HC Jon Gruden – Photo by: USA Today

“Yeah, I think Todd would admit number one, they’ve got really good players,” Gruden began. “Jason Licht has done a nice job assembling this roster. They’ve got a Hall of Fame linebacker. You know, Lavonte David, I don’t care if he makes the Pro Bowl or not, he’s going into Canton, unless we’re stupid. I mean, this guy’s production on an every down basis is amazing. His instincts and nose for the ball are incredible.

“And he’s playing right behind arguably one of the top two or three defensive players in the history in this franchise. [Vita] Vea does things guys just don’t do. He stuffs the middle. He can rush the passer, push the pocket.”

Gruden continued to talk about the strength of Tampa Bay’s defense right down the middle.

“So, they’ve got really good players in the middle of their defense and then on the third level they have Antoine Winfield and he’s healthy this year,” Gruden said. “If you look at what Winfield did the last time he was healthy for a full season, well, it earned him about a $100 million dollar contract.

“So, in the middle of this defense, they’re very strong and they don’t have the 15-sack guy coming off the edge right now, but they do have some guys like Yaya Diaby – power rusher – a creative Hasson Reddick. Then you got the big guy, [Anthony] Nelson who can come in and impact the game. But it is the combination, I think, of good players, really good players with a great scheme. And these guys can play 3 deep, 3 under, fire zone coverages. They can come after you with all kinds of corner blitzes and perimeter heat and they can play man-to-man. There’s just so many different things you have to prepare for and it’s tough.”

Vita Vea Is A Top Franchise Player

Jon Gruden’s notes on Vita Vea are notable. He oversaw the 2002 Bucs defense that featured Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Simeon Rice, Rondé Barber and John Lynch. To place Vea in the top three in franchise history means Gruden feels his impact is greater than at least three of those players, not to mention the original Bucs Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon, as well as potentially David.

That’s high marks for a nose tackle. Vea doesn’t rank very high on many of the Bucs’ all-time records lists. He is tied with Jason Pierre-Paul and Brad Culpepper for 11th in career sacks with 33. And his 44 tackles for loss is just ninth in franchise history.

But what Gruden sees is a player who sets up those around him for success while taking things off the table for opposing offenses. Vea forces offenses to double him longer in the rep in the run game. By continuing to occupy the second blocker – and not allowing him to climb – he keeps the linebackers and safeties behind him clean to flow to the ball quicker. This has no doubt helped David rack up additional tackles closer to the line of scrimmage over the past eight years.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Combining a lightning-fast get off with his massive size helps him play across multiple gaps and get to spots before offensive linemen. Vea can both one- and two-gap, letting head coach Todd Bowles adjust his defense on a game-to-game basis. And his ability to condense the pocket prevents quarterbacks from climbing up the pocket to avoid the outside pass rush.

I agree with Gruden that Vea’s impact goes well beyond his statistical production. It even makes it difficult to grade his impact.

On another recent episode of the Pewter Report Podcast, Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus peeled the curtain back on PFF’s grading system as it pertains to the Bucs, and Vea specifically. When I asked him about Vea’s grade and whether it should be higher given his impact, he gave a nuanced answer that acknowledged the big man’s impact.

Parsing Vita Vea’s Play From His Impact

Pro Football Focus’ Dalton Wasserman explained grading an impactful nose tackle like Vita Vea, whose play may not register much on the stats sheet.

“For sure, I think when it comes to Vea and a lot of times real interior guys, those nose tackles, the grades can be a bit more middling right when you talk about it,” Wasserman said. “But even when you talk about a guy in the mid to high 60s [it’s] still solid stuff. And sometimes just those guys don’t get as many opportunities say to make big splashy plays on the ball that would get the high-end grades for us, But Vea is obviously a very good player and his size and what I love about him is that he does make everybody around him better. Especially those guys behind him when you have a guy who just has to occupy those double teams all the time, that does matter.

“And those might get more neutral grades in our system, like sitting right, you mentioned the minus two to plus two [raw grades]. They might sit right at the zero, which is not bad. It’s neutral. He’s doing his job. He’s plugging his gap. He’s occupying the double team. Those often won’t get the big splashy positive grades like a forced fumble or a TFL would or anything like that. But he certainly is doing his job.

Wasserman continued.

Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

“So, I would not categorize Vea as somebody who’s a bad run defender by any means because he does do his job in there in the interior. Where it might be something a little bit different when I watch, say a Calijah Kancey, a guy who did have run defense concerns coming into the league as a much smaller guy. There are times where I see – you know he’s still got to work on reading some things laterally and not getting sealed. I think about some games, tough games he’s had against a team like the Atlanta Falcons, right? Where his value is a little bit different. Where he can make splashy plays, but he also can get sealed and get beat sometimes.

“So, again, it’s a it’s a good example of two different ways going about it. And I think as far as the unit goes, you know, every defense is different. So, the Bucs for us, right now as a team, 16th in run defense, great. And they go about it a little bit differently than a team that might have a dominant, stout defensive line, say the New York Giants or something like that, right?”

Wasserman continued.

“And I even see this all the time – college teams, too. They have great second-level defenders that bring it back up. Tykee Smith is their highest-graded run defender. Jacob Parish has been awesome. We know Lavonte David – he’s just ageless. He’s always been good. Antoine Winfield, SirVocea Dennis has been good in run defense.

“So, every team is just built a little bit differently. Some of them are just dominant on the defensive line like the Rams. They make those plays on the first level and some teams are built from the back end up. And I think that’s just where the Bucs um run defense production comes from is just those second level those second-level defenders being so good behind those defensive linemen.”

Among the 80 qualifying interior defensive linemen with at least 223 defensive snaps this year, Vea ranks 46th by PFF’s run defense grading system. Last year he was 15th of 61. The year before that he was once again 15th – this time out of 76 qualifying linemen. He has never finished top 10 as a run defender by their grading metrics.

That’s not to say he hasn’t graded well. Most seasons PFF has his grade in the mid-60’s, meaning he is doing his job as expected. But that’s certainly a far cry from someone who changes offense’s gameplans. Or at least that isn’t being captured in the grading metric. Keep in mind, since Vea entered the league, the Bucs have been the best run defense in the NFL by the metric EPA/rush.

Wasserman made a fantastic point in that Vea amplifies the players around him. He’s a force multiplier as a run defender. Basketball and baseball have an “assist” metric. Football doesn’t, but maybe it should.

If it did, undoubtedly Vea would be near the top of any leaderboard. Or perhaps difficulty of assignment should tip raw grades more.

One thing is for certain, Vita Vea ranks high as a former Super Bowl champion who is still getting the job done at a high level at age 30 – and helping the Bucs defense around him.

Don’t take it from me. Take it from Jon Gruden.

Click the video below to watch Jon Gruden’s appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast where he talks about Vita Vea, Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield and the current Bucs – as well as some of the Buccaneers legends he coached in Tampa Bay.