The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprised the league in 2023, making a push to the postseason and upsetting the defending 2022 NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The Buccaneers know they won’t be surprising anyone in 2024, so they need their players to take their play to another level.

One of those players Tampa Bay hopes will take another step is defensive tackle Vita Vea, the team’s first-round pick in 2018.

“Vita has to play better,” defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers said via PewterReport.com. “He plays hard and does everything we ask of him. Just when you go back and look at some plays, ‘You should have made that play. You know that guy should not be blocking you.’ That’s kind of where we need him to take the next step because he does everything, everything else we ask him for.”

Vea has been a productive player for most of his six-year NFL career and is coming off one of his best seasons, in which he registered a career-high 43 tackles, 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

He also played a big part in the defense, which allowed the fifth-fewest rushing yards (95.3) and sixth-fewest points per game (19.1) in the league last season.

However, the 29-year-old knows there is more left to be desired. That’s why he made it a point to shed some weight this offseason to avoid some of the lower-body injuries he’s dealt with in recent seasons.

His teammate, defensive tackle Logan Hall, said he’s “not sure on the number” of pounds that Vea has lost but that he is moving great. Rodgers agreed that Vea “looks a lot different.”

Only time will tell if Vea becomes “the dominant guy” Rodgers hopes to see this season, but it’s no secret that 2024 will be an important year for him and the Buccaneers, who seem to be running it back after signing most of their key free agents.