The 2018 NFL Draft takes place April 26-28 this year, and as it stands, the Tennessee Titans have one first round draft pick. General manager Jon Robinson and first year head coach Mike Vrabel currently hold the 25th overall selection. Over the next few weeks, your boy “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley will be taking a look at some of the prospects who are either rumored to be tied to or who make sense for the Titans.
It’s entirely likely that Vita Vea is going to end up as a top 10 pick in this year’s NFL Draft. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read a mock, including my own, that has him going later than at #11 to the Miami Dolphins. So, it stands to reason why you might be reading this thinking, “WTF, Stoney? Vea’s not going to be in play for the Titans.
But, with that said, anything is possible when it comes to the NFL.
Maybe Vea starts to slide a bit and the Titans trade up to get him? Maybe he slides all the way to #25 for no good reason at all? Who knows?
Would he be a good fit with the Titans? Hell yes. The Titans lost out on the Ndamukong Suh sweepstakes. But, they also released Sylvester Williams and Karl Klug. Defensive linemen suddenly becomes a need. Sure, the Titans are confident in their rotation of young guys. But, they could use another bona fide starter to complement Jurrell Casey and DaQuan Jones. Plus, Vea’s natural position is at nose tackle, where the Titans happen to be down a starter since releasing Williams.
Vea showed out at the scouting combine. I mean, to be 6’5″ and 344 pounds (my God), the dude is an absolute freak of nature. An outright hoss. The scary thing is that he just mauls offensive linemen like they’re nothing. Again – 6’5” – 344 pounds….and he ran a 4.98 40-yard dash. That’s disgusting.
I don’t even want to try and write about this guy anymore. Like, that paragraph alone should speak to you.
But, then you turn on the tape, and you see that he has a very rare combination of power and technique to go with the measurables. The thing that makes him most attractive is the fact that he actually dialed up a pretty decent pass rush. Now, will that translate from the Pac-12 to the NFL? Who knows?
I said the Titans needed a pass rusher – I didn’t necessarily say it had to be DE/OLB. So, Vea could potentially fill that need -AND- his addition would ensure that that 4th ranked rushing defense didn’t drop off too much.
Looking across the board, it seems like his footwork is the most cited area of potential improvement. There’s definitely a contingent of people out there saying Vea is still an incredibly raw prospect. But, all in all, he seems to be the consensus #1 defensive tackle in this draft.
Further Reading: Stephen White had an entertaining write-up on Vea for SB Nation.
Also, Vita Vea’s name is actually really long.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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