Marist Liufau NFL Draft Overview
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6′-2″
Weight: 234 pounds
School: Notre Dame
2024 NFL Draft: Marist Liufau Scouting Report
After spending his collegiate career at Notre Dame, linebacker Marist Liufau is ready to take his game to the professional level in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Hawaii native finished his time with the Fighting Irish on a high note, recorded 44 tackles, six tackles-for-loss, and three sacks in 12 games.
Latu joined the Fighting Irish in 2019 but didn’t consistently see the field until 2020, and he was mostly a backup. The linebakcer was supposed to start in 2021 before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury during offseason practices. He finally stayed on the field in 2022 and put himself on the NFL Draft radar. Appearing in 13 games, the linebacker finished the season with 51 tackles, 4.5 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks, and one interception.
Strengths
- Great north-south defender that loves crashing running lanes and shooting gaps;
- Above-average strength for his size – holds up well in the run game;
- Matches running backs move in short-area quickness – never finds himself on the wrong side of a juke;
- Demonstrates raw poential to follow tight ends and bigger receivers into the slot;
- Solid athleticism makes him a potential special team stalwart.
Weaknesses
- Overaggressive – sometimes shoots the wrong gap;
- Surprisingly bad tackler for his play style – struggles to phyiscally wrap up running backs in one-on-one situations;
- Doesn’t play as fast as his testing speed when pursuing plays across the field;
- Slow to diagnose certain concepts;
- Fine shallow dropper in coverage, but needs to improve in man.
NFL Comparison: Alec Ogletree
Teams With Need at Position: Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers
Projection: Round 5
Bottom Line on Marist Liufau in 2024 NFL Draft
Marist Lifau enters the 2024 NFL Draft as a player who could have a long career as a backup, so long as he carves out a role on special teams. While he won’t be anyone’s first chioce as a starter, he has enough good film to earn a role on an NFL defense. The Notre Dame product excels when charging into the line of scrimmage with a full head of steam. Despite his relatively smaller build at 238, his acceleration gives him enough force to match up against offensive linemen, hold his ground, and slow down the running backs. On passing plays, Liufau can drop into shallow zones and use that quick acceleration to take away the middle of the field.
Marist Liufau has the strength to hold up against offensive linemen, but for some reason, that doesn’t translate to taking down the running back. While he can slow down the ball carrier, he struggles to consistently end the play. According to Pro Football Focus, the Notre Dame product had an atrocious 18.9% missed tackle rate, and that won’t et better at the NFL level. Additionally, his north-south aggression can be a double-edged sword, as he’s a little too confident in his pre-snap assessments and sometimes shoots the wrong gap.
Ultimately, Marist Lifau will probably be a Day 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he’s going to play up to his draft capital. He’s not going to set the world on fire, and there are too many glaring holes in his game for him to ever be anything more than an adequate backup and special teams standout. However, if you’re picking in the fifth round, you’d take a player with his motor every single day of the week.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee – USA Today Sports
