By Scott Johnson



A relative stranger to being the center of attention, Vita Vea vaguely recalls the only other time in his life where all eyes were upon him. He was a high school freshman, lining up in shotgun formation behind center in the Wildcat formation, when all 11 defenders stared in wonder at how they might try to take down the 260-pound ball carrier with the tree trunk legs.

The years that followed saw Vea grow, both literally and guratively, into a 6-foot-4, 340-pound defensive lineman who somehow managed to avoid standing out from the crowd. Playing on the interior of the defensive line will do that.

As most college football fans know by now, Vea ended up at the University of Washington and is back in the spotlight – a rarity for the reserved junior from Milpitas, Calif.

Having spurned the NFL draft for another year at UW, Vea will be in the center of the crosshairs this season.

"It's definitely cool," Vea said of all the attention he has received since deciding to come back to UW for at least one more season. "It's something I guess every little kid hopes for when they grow up. But I try not to pay attention to it... It's in one ear and out the other."

Vea isn't the first UW football player, or even the most high-profle, to turn down NFL riches for another year of being a Husky. Quarterback Jake Locker was a near-lock to be a first-round pick in 2010 but spurned the draft and was rewarded by being picked eighth overall in 2011. It's not out of the question that Vea's decision could result in a similar result.

Vea was projected to be a second-round pick in the 2017 draft but opted to stick around. The early returns show that the decision could pay off in more ways than one. ESPN and CBS Sports both project Vea as a mid- to late-first-round pick, and he is generally regarded as the third-best defensive tackle prospect in the nation.

"What's really been fun to watch is Vita taking it upon himself to try to reach his potential," Huskies defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe said. "To me, I think the sky's the limit for what he can do."

Vea's draft potential has put him in the spotlight, but he's more concerned with some un nished business at UW.

"I knew this was where I had to be," he said in early August. "Obviously this is a great staff, Coach Pete ( Chris Petersen ) is one of the best, and I knew there was more I had to grasp out of them than I've learned overall.

"I knew that I wasn't ready for (the NFL). I knew there was a lot more knowledge to be gained if I stayed."

The education of Vea continued in August, when a month-long training camp that was designed to get the Huskies ready for the 2017 season was also an opportunity to develop his NFL skills.

"For him, it's just technique and consistency," defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said after an Aug. 12 practice. "He's got all the physical tools. It's just about mastering the craft. If he's going to take his game to the next level, that's what he's got to do. It's all about pad level and being efficient with your body movement."

The details of playing on the interior of the defensive line are often overlooked by casual fans, who don't always appreciate subtle skills like occupying multiple blockers, recovery from initial impact and maximizing a low base to force opposing linemen to plug up the running lanes.

Block recognition and knowing how to break double teams are as important to defensive linemen as learning how to bring down a ball carrier.

Vea has been working on hand placement, staying low and initial burst since he arrived at UW, but he's even more focused on developing and honing those skills this year.

Blessed with incredible natural ability, Vea can become an even better prospect if he develops more re ned skills and makes more plays when the games start.

"He's a very freakish talent, a rst-round-caliber talent – no question," said Rob Rang, a local analyst for NFLDraftScout.com. "Just the power and speed for a man that size. But he's still pretty raw, technically, especially in terms of developing pass-rush skills. There's not a lot (on tape) in terms of use of his hands. There's not a lot in terms of recognition of passing lanes."

Rang said that Vea is a bit of a throwback in that his size and run-stuff ability could have been more attractive to scouts a few years ago but that pass- rush ability in defensive tackles has become more of a premium as of late.

"A top-10 pick isn't impossible," Rang said of Vea's potential if he has a big junior year. "He's got that kind of talent. But there needs to be more production."

Vea's evolution as a pro prospect wasn't going to pay any rewards on tape until the 2017 season began. But the UW coaching staff was already seeing progress in the spring and late-summer practices.

"Baby steps," Kwiatkowski said on Aug. 12, "but he's getting better."

Vea refused to pinpoint one or two areas where he was really focused on improving.

"Overall," he said, "everything needs work."

Malloe, the defensive line coach, said in August that Vea was improving. What was immediately apparent, Malloe said, was that Vea's leadership skills had evolved as well.

"From the first day of summer to now, he's become a leader," Malloe said during the second week of training camp. "He's building skill. The old bigger, stronger, faster, that's all coming into play. He's ready to be a leader and get us through the season."

Vea's practice habits have evolved over his time at UW, and he's had to become a better student in the classroom as well. Vea takes pride in how far he has come academically since almost becoming a casualty to grades before he even set foot on the eld.

What was apparent from Vea's rst practices at UW was that he had a lot of potential as a football player.

"I saw the potential right away," teammate Greg Gaines said. "He was so huge, and he was one of the fastest linemen, even though he's like 350 pounds. So I saw that right away. I just knew that he had to get the mental aspect, and now that's coming together. So he's pretty incredible. He's a freak of nature."

Gaines has a unique perspective of Vea's rise to stardom, having lined up alongside him for two seasons at UW.

"It's pretty great," Gaines said. "He's been playing as much as I have, and we can rely on each other. You know that you just have to do your job right and you don't have to worry about the guy next to you doing his job. If Vita's doing his job, I just know in my head that I've just got to do my thing. So it's nice having him next to me."

UW's defensive tackles are starting to generate plenty of attention, which typically doesn't come with the position.

"They don't like to be in the spotlight," Malloe said. "They like what the d-line represents and how they contribute to the team. As far as the limelight, they do a great job de ecting that. They would rather ght for somebody else to be praised."

And yet, with production comes attention. Whatever anonymity Vea hoped to keep as an interior lineman has been chipped away by his emergence as an NFL prospect.

Vea gets more looks these days but said he's mostly been able to stay under the radar when walking around the UW campus.

" Jake Browning can take credit for that," he said with a grin. "He gets all the attention on campus."

There was one time this offseason when Vea was walking along a sidewalk and heard someone call out his name.

"This kid said, 'Hey, Vita,'" Vea said with a coy grin. "For me, that was pretty cool, just to get that type of recognition from a little kid."

Having decided to come back for another year of college, Vea can probably expect more of the same. If he was looking to remain inconspicuous, UW isn't the best place for a budding pro prospect and star player to go incognito.

But Vea gured the NFL would still be there when he was ready.

"I think he believed what was best for him was to come back and help our program," Malloe said. "It's exciting for us to have that advantage, to get the opportunity to work with him and to have another year. He'll continue to get better, and he's showing his leadership skills. Obviously, as you can see, he has a bright future ahead of him."

All eyes are on Vea now, and it's probably going to take more than a few scrawny high school defenders to take him down – as was the case when he ran the ball out of the Wildcat formation in high school.

"Obviously, with big guys, you go low," Vea said of how they managed to bring him down.

Then there was the time when Vea decided he might try to pull a trick play and actually throw the ball.

"I kind of bombed (as a passer)," he recalled. "They told me: 'Stick to running.'"

Fortunately for the Huskies, and for whatever NFL team is fortunate enough to land him, Vea didn't take that advice. The only running he prefers to do these days is up the draft boards of NFL scouts.