{"id":236889,"date":"2025-06-16T15:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=236889"},"modified":"2025-06-16T06:34:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T10:34:59","slug":"chargers-edge-defender-tuli-tuipulotu-breakout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/06\/16\/chargers-edge-defender-tuli-tuipulotu-breakout\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers Edge Defender Predicted to Break Out In 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Chargers need someone to replace the departed Joey Bosa, and former second-round pick Tuli Tuipulotu\u00a0could be the man for the job. Selected in the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft<\/a>, the USC product had a promising rookie season. Appearing in all 17 games while making 11 starts, Tuipulotu finished his inaugural campaign with 4.5 sacks, 53 tackles, eight tackles-for-loss, and a 71.0 PFF grade. Playing under a new regime in 2024, he remained productive with 8.5 sacks, 42 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss, and a 66.5 PFF grade.<\/p>\n

With Bosa released and landing with the Buffalo Bills<\/a>, Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus<\/a> believes Tuli Tuipulotu is one of the biggest breakout candidates in the league. In a recent article, the NFL analyst laid out his case for why he thinks a big season is inevitable.<\/p>\n

“Tuipulotu playing regularly shouldn’t be a newfound phenomenon given Joey Bosa’s repeated injuries over the last few years, but the 22-year-old can now enter camp perceiving himself as a legitimate starter in a thin edge-rushing group,” Locker writes. “If Tuipulotu cleans up the missed tackles – his 30.1% miss rate was fourth-worst among qualified edge defenders – then his production against both the pass and run should elevate.”<\/p>\n

\"Tuli
Nov 17, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu (45) reacts after a missed 51-yard field goal by Cincinnati Bengals place kicker Evan McPherson (2) in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PFF: Chargers Tuli Tuipulotu Will Break Out In 2025<\/h2>\n

Khalil Mack is the unquestioned top option on the Los Angeles Chargers defensive line, but Tuli Tuipulotu has the opportunity to become a locked-in starter opposite the future Hall of Famer. As mentioned above, he must improve at finishing plays, but he’s entering his age-23 season and still has plenty of time to improve. After making the playoffs in the first year of the Jim Harbaugh Era<\/a>, the Los Angeles Chargers enter 2025 with Super Bowl aspirations, and Tuipulotu can help the team take the next step in a crowded division.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After spending the past two seasons in a supporting role, PFF believes Chargers edge defender Tuli Tuipulotu will break out in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":236890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,18],"tags":[7642,9815],"class_list":["post-236889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-chargers","tag-chargers-featured","tag-tuli-tuipulotu"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236889"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236940,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236889\/revisions\/236940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}