The 2018 NFL Draft Prospect series breaks down draft-eligible players, highlighting their college production as well as their NFL potential. Daily fantasy players should know about NFL rookies before they’ve played a down of professional football because they are among the most misvalued assets in all of DFS. People who know NFL rookies have a significant DFS edge. The draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, from April 26-28.
This piece is on Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea, who has declared early for the draft. For the total list of all players leaving school early, see our underclassmen tracker.
Redshirt Junior | 6’4″ and 347 Pounds | Born February 5, 1995 (Age: 22) | Projection: Round 1
Combine numbers: 40-yard: 5.1 sec | bench reps: 41 | 3-cone: DNP | 20-yard shuttle: DNP | vertical: DNP | broad: DNP
The NFL employs some of the largest and most-intimidating athletes in the entire world, and Vea will fit right in wherever he’s drafted. The massive specimen dominated PAC-12 competition for the better part of the past three seasons, as he proved capable of both defending two gaps in the run game and bull-rushing the quarterback on passing downs. At this year’s combine the second-team All-American became one of just 11 all-time prospects to record 40-plus bench reps, and Vea’s name has regularly been listed within the first two rounds of most mock drafts across the industry.
Vea was used all over the line during his time at Washington, ultimately playing at least 100 snaps at each of defensive end, nose tackle, and defensive tackle in 2017. Overall, he racked up 9.5 sacks, 15 tackles for a loss, and 99 total tackles in 28 career games. The former high school running back/basketball player proved to be plenty capable of doing more than just defending the run, as he racked up 28 hurries in his 273 pass-rush snaps as a redshirt junior. Vea was Pro Football Focus’ No. 4- and No. 3-graded defensive tackle at pass rushing and defending the run.
Vea’s combination of out-of-this-world strength and scheme versatility gives him perhaps the highest ceiling among the draft’s defensive line prospects. Defenses strive to obtain players who can force the offense to game plan around them, and finding defensive tackles who require a double team on a play-by-play basis is one way to achieve this. His strength jumps off the screen in both the pass and run game:
Having this type of potential is a bit of a double-edged sword for some prospects, as they inevitably face questions about why their game-changing talent wasn’t on display more often. Vea is no exception, as his biggest questions as a prospect mostly surround his consistency and play-by-play effort. Ultimately, he’ll still be a double-team candidate on run plays from the moment he steps on the field thanks to his sheer size and strength. That alone makes Vea a first-round talent, while the continued evolution of his pass-rush repertoire and consistency in creating plays are what could help him eventually take over games at the next level.
Three-down defensive linemen are some of the league’s most-coveted commodities, but this hasn’t always extended to larger interior-oriented players. Only five defensive tackles weighing over 335 pounds have been selected in the first round over the past 25 years.
- Dan Wilkinson: 6’4″ and 335 pounds
- Sam Adams: 6’3″ and 350 pounds
- Haloti Ngata: 6’4″ and 338 pounds
- Dontari Poe: 6’4″ and 346 pounds
- Phil Taylor: 6’3″ and 334 pounds
Vea matches up with this comp group both from a size and college production standpoint. Still, these tackles all needed a bit of time in the league before reaching their potential as three-down terrors: Not one of them managed to record over six sacks in his rookie season. Any team that needs help up front against the run could use Vea instantly, but it will likely take time before he becomes a true thorn in the side for opposing fantasy investors.
In our most recent mock draft, we have Vea going to the Falcons at No. 26.
Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
