When the NFL knew they were going to be getting a two-way star like Travis Hunter, no one was sure what to expect with him. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2024 and became the first defensive player to do so since Charles Woodson, which is good company to have. But could someone pull off double duty in the NFL?
Through five weeks of the NFL season, that answer still has not emerged, but Hunter has seemingly had fun in the process, attempting to do it for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They traded up to get him and have gotten a good return, but there is a reason he is the only player in the NFL doing this type of workload.
But should he be?
ESPN explored the idea of each team having one player who could pull double duty for their team. For the Bucs, they made the unique choice of highlighting defensive lineman Vita Vea as the man for the job, in a similar role to the Chicago Bears legend William “The Refrigerator” Perry.
Vea is suggested to be a running back for the Bucs.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine writes, “Vea might be pushing 347 pounds, and his home is always going to be defensive line, but he also played running back at Milpitas High School in California, where he had 13 rushing touchdowns his senior year and averaged 12.3 yards per carry on 47 carries. In the NFL, he has lined up a couple of times on offense at the goal line, becoming the heaviest player to score an offensive touchdown in league history in 2019 with a 1-yard touchdown catch against the Falcons.”
Can we take a minute to imagine trying to tackle the high school version of Vita Vea as a running back?
The Bucs have teased the move several times by lining him up in the backfield, as Laine mentions. Seeing them lean more into it, especially in the era of The Tush Push, would make sense. Perhaps Josh Grizzard will pull a trick out of his bag later in the year.
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