TAMPA, Fla. _ The first day in pads, first team drill, first play. Rookie defensive tackle Vita Vea suffered a calf injury in training camp that would knock him out of action for weeks. That was the first bad sign.
It shouldn't have been surprising. At 347 pounds, playing in the scorched earth heat of August in Tampa Bay, Vea was bound to become dehydrated and suffer a soft tissue injury. During his rehab, he dropped 15 pounds working out on the treadmill and stationary bike.
Since returning to the lineup five games ago, Vea's career still is jogging in place.
The Bucs first-round pick has two tackles, none for a loss, no sacks and virtually nothing to show for his rookie season.
"You see his athleticism," Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said. "You can see him chase and run and stuff like that. You can see all the things that we saw on his college tape, but we're all judged on production eventually."
And by that standard, when you judge the Bucs rebuilt defensive line, it's been a huge failure.
Consider the resources poured into rebuilding that unit.
The Bucs have invested more than $52.6 million in salary to the defensive line this season, which represents 27.35 percent of their salary cap. That makes it the NFL's richest defensive line this season.
After finishing last in the NFL with 22 sacks in 2017, general manager Jason Licht devoted much of the offseason to finding help to go with Gerald McCoy.
He started by signing two free agents from the Super Bowl champion Eagles: defensive tackle Beau Allen and defensive end Vinny Curry. He added Bears defensive tackle Mitch Unrein, who suffered a concussion the second week of camp and was placed on injured reserve. He traded for Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who has been spectacular and has accounted for eight of the Bucs' 18 sacks.
Licht also drafted Vea with the 12th overall pick, five spots ahead of where Florida State safety Derwin James was plucked by San Diego. ESPN ranked James as the league's top rookie at midseason and he seems headed to the Pro Bowl.
As for Vea?
"Vita is on the ground 70 percent of snaps," said Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp. "He goes the wrong way three out of every four plays. Flat foot, don't know where he's going. He's on the goal line getting driven back into the linebacker. It's tough to watch."
Even McCoy, who has been voted to six straight Pro Bowls, seems to be in decline. He returned last Sunday and recorded a half sack after missing two games with a calf injury. In his ninth season, he has 12 tackles and only two sacks in six games.
Outside of Pierre-Paul, the Bucs' other most productive defensive lineman wasn't even with the team until just before the opener. Defensive end Carl Nassib, who was claimed off waivers from the Browns, is second on the team with three sacks.
If you're looking an explanation for why the Bucs are last in NFL scoring defense (34.4 points), the puzzling unproductive play of the defensive line is a good place to start.
Koetter sees it differently.
"These guys are fighting and scratching and clawing and we have to do better as a football team," he said. "I don't ever look at it as this group is letting us down or this guy is letting us down. Our football team has to play better."
Here's another way to look at it. The Bucs made one staff change in the offseason, firing defensive line coach Jay Hayes, a close friend of Koetter. He replaced him with former Cardinals defensive line coach Brentson Buckner.
To say Buckner's defensive line is underperforming would be an understatement. The stunning lack of turnovers is a result of its failure to consistently pressure the quarterback. Halfway through the season, the Bucs have only one interception and that came when safety Justin Evans picked off Ben Roethlisberger in Week 3.
Pierre-Paul leads the Bucs in quarterback hits with 13. McCoy has nine. Nobody else has more than five.
Five games into the season, defensive coordinator Mike Smith was fired and linebackers coach Mark Duffner took over. The results haven't really changed. The Bucs have given up 400 yards seven times in eight games. Once an opponent gets inside the Bucs' 20-yard line, it's over. Opponents are 27 for 30 scoring touchdowns from inside the red zone, a stunning 90 percent success rate.
"Everybody kind of wants instant success and you see the product on Sunday, but you don't see what's going into it during the week," Allen said. "I'm not really sure what it is. We've got a lot of new faces, new coaching staff, new schemes, a new defensive coordinator during the season. So there's kind of a lot going on.
"But saying that, as a defensive line we've got to play better and I definitely want to make sure I acknowledge that first and foremost."
Sapp points to coaching. On one play erased by a Carolina penalty, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton ran a naked bootleg into the end zone and was so alone he walked in. Newton has 58 career rushing touchdowns. "He has more rushing touchdowns than anyone on that team," Sapp said. "How can they run a play-action fake and naked bootleg when nobody covers Cam?"
Injuries have been part of the problem. Allen (foot) and McCoy (calf) missed two games. So did Curry (ankle). Pierre-Paul has played with knee, shoulder and rib injuries. But that's the same with every team. Noah Spence, a former second-round pick who battled a shoulder injury the past two seasons, can't get on the field.
"I just watched the Patriots the other night missing arguably the best interior lineman and the best tight end in football but there's a lot of other players and they're getting the job done," McCoy said.
McCoy had been uncharacteristically silent the last three weeks and declined to talk to reporters after Sunday's game. He explained his stance Monday.
"We haven't been winning. The defense hasn't been playing well," McCoy said. "There's really not a lot of talking to be done."
McCoy said the Bucs planned to have a dinner for all defensive players this week for "to just talk."
Hopefully, the defensive line picked up the check because on the field, there's been very little payoff.
