Jay Kirk Baseball Thread since 2017: The 2021 season, Dodgers Repeat?
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By Patrick Miller · Posted
With all the young gunslingers in our division you may be pretty happy with the Latu pick if he’s planting them in the ground! IMO we need a boost at Edge. Paye just hasn’t lived up to expectations. -
By VikingsFanInChennai · Posted
Bills are gonna draft, with first draft pick of day 2, either McConkey or Mitchell. Maybe, they'll surprise and pick another WR but past few draft selections show that different teams have different WRs at the top order of their draft board. -
Dane Brugler's profile on Latu in his draft guide: 3. LAIATU LATU | UCLA 6046 | 259 lbs. | 5SR Sacramento, Calif. (Jesuit) 12/31/2000 (age 23.32) #15 BACKGROUND: Laiatu (lay-AH-too) Latu (LAH-too), the oldest of four children (two boys and two girls), grew up in Sacramento. He was a do-everything athlete throughout childhood, playing baseball, basketball, football, soccer and rugby. Latu enrolled at Jesuit High School, a privat e Catholic school in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael and played on the JV team as a 150-pound freshman. After adding weight and moving up to varsity as a sophomore, he flourished as a pass-rushing linebacker in the team’s 3-4 scheme. As a junior, Latu posted 65 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 12 sacks, leading the program to 10 wins and earning first team AllMetro honors. As a seniorin 2018, he recorded 94 tackles and 29.5 tackles for loss to earn first team All-State and All-League. Latu finished his varsity career with 178 tackles, 50.5 tackles for loss and 27 sacks, adding 356 receiving yards as a tight end and 476 punting yards on special teams. Latu also lettered in rugby (his main love) and led the program to national championships in 2017 and 2019. He considered playing professional rugby overseas after high school. A four-star recruit, Latu was the No. 6 weakside defensive end in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 20 recruit in California (No. 3 pass rusher in the state behind 2022 draft picks Kayvon Thibodeaux and Drake Jackson). He started getting noticed as a recruit during his junior year and picked up his first offer (Oregon State). Latu later added offers from Alabama, Notre Dame and Tennessee, but he wanted to stay on the West Coast. He had a final five of Ca l, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington and signed with the Huskies in December 2018. Latu was the No. 3 recruit in Washington’s 2019 class behind Puka Nacua and Trent McDuffie. After playing a reserve role as a true freshman, he suffered a serious neck injury during practice before the 2020 season and was forced to medically retire in the spring of 2021. He stayed close to the Huskies program as a student assistant during the 2021 season, and a year after his injury, he saw a specialist (the same doctor who performed Peyton Manning’s neck surgery) and was medically cleared. He played rugby during his rehab and was offered a contract by the professional Seattle Seawolves rugby team, but he didn’t want to give up on his football dream. Looking for a fresh start, he entered the transfer portal in November 2021. Ikaika Malloe, whom Latu considers a “father figu re,” was his position coach at Washington and left for the UCLA coaching staff in December 2021. Malloe recommended Latu to coach Chip Kelly,and Latu joined the Bruins in January 2022. In April 2022, Latu was officially cleared and put the pads back on that summer for the first time in almost two years. His younger brother (Keleki) played tight end at California (2021-22) before transferring to Nevada for the 2023 season. Latu opted out of the 2023 bowl game and accepted his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl. STRENGTHS: Crafty, punctual pass rusher … owns a master’s degree in cross-chop maneuvers (his go-to move is a Euro chop) … fast, strong hands for effective armovers, ghost moves and quick sheds … bursts off the snap with body flexibility to corner at the top of rush … hits the turbo button after clearing the outside shoulder ofthe blocker … uses a filthy jab step to shorten the edge and displays an innate feel for creating rush angles … plays with a ton of energy and feet are never stagnant … stays balanced through contact and is accustomed to seeing extra attention … quick eyes/reads lead to line-of-scrimmage stops in the run game … always rallying to the football and pursing to the perimeter … rugby (his favorite sport) developed his toughness and aggression on the football field (turned down a professional rugby career in the Premiership in England) … flagged only once in 2023 (offsides) … heads-up player when zone dropping to find passing lanes … notched two interceptions in 2023, and NFL scouts say UCLA coaches believe he would have been their best tight end had they played him on offense … didn’t miss a game the past two seasons after his medical retirement in 2021 … highly determined and doesn’t waste an ounce of talent (Chip Kelly: “He works really hard at his craft.”) … productive college resume and led the team in sacks, tackles for loss and pressures in both of seasons at UCLA. WEAKNESSES: Below-average arm length by NFL standards … tends to play tall versus the run and needs to be more consistent controlling the point of attack … must better anticipate outside design to contain runs to his side … more of a hug-and-drag tackler and needs toclean up his misses (had at least one missed tackle in every 2023 tape studied) … injury history will be scrutinized by NFL teams after two-and-a-half years away from football — suffered a neck injury in practice (November 2020) that created numbness and required surgery; after consulting several specialists, Latu was forced to medically retire i n the spring of 2021, but he kept his dreams alive and transferred to UCLA (January 2022), where he was cleared before the 2022 season … started only one season in college (although he played starterlevel snaps in 2022). SUMMARY: A one-year starter at UCLA, Latu was an outside edge rusher in former defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s scheme, splitting his time standing up and rushing with his hand on the ground (was also schemed inside at times). Medically rejected at Washington, he was cleared by doctors after transferring to UCLA and was extremely productive over the past two seasons,with 129 total pressures in 25 games. After leading the FBS in tackles for loss in 2023, the consensus AllAmerican cleaned up on the awards circuit as a senior, taking home the Morris Trophy (best DL in Pac-12), Ted Hendricks Award (top DE in FBS) and Lombardi Award (top OL/DL in FBS). For pass rushers, there is a saying: “Beat the hands, beat the man.” Latu lives by this principle with the cohesive way he weaponizes his hands and feet to defeat blocks (led the FBS with a 24.6 percent passrush win percentage in 2023). As a run defender, his lack of ideal length and pop will show at times, but he made significant improvements with his read/react in this area as a senior. Overall, Latu’s medical history will play a major part in his draft grade, but he is a passrush technician with the instinctive feel and athletic bend to be an impactful “two-way go” rusher in the NFL. His play style and journey are reminiscent of Miami Dolphins 2021 first-rounder Jaelan Phillips. GRADE: 1st-2nd Round (No. 22 overall) -
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