Keep A Close Eye On Nation’s Sack Leader Tuli Tuipulotu

Kudos to Jason McIntyre of Fox Sports for mocking USC defender Tuli Tuipulotu into the first-round.

That’s how Tuipulotu came to my attention.

Then I looked at his stat line and saw he currently leads the nation in sacks (9.0), and that really caught my attention.

Who is this guy?

Tuipulotu on 2021 game film

If 2021 game film is available on the 2023 NFL Draft prospects, I am looking at that to begin with until December.

I’ve been doing it for months.

Why?

To gain and to be able to provide more perspective on the prospects, opposed to just looking at their hype year prior to the draft.

I want to see what these prospects look like when maybe they thought fewer eyes were on them.

USC moved him all over the defensive line in 2021. They stood him up, and they put him with both hands down in the dirt in a four-point stance.

He finished 2021 with 5.5 sacks and 23 pressures (trojanswire.usatoday.com).

With that kind of pocket disruption, it really doesn’t seem like Tuipulotu is much of a “Johnny-come-lately.”

Looked best as a defensive tackle

Tuipulotu is a combination of quickness, speed, power and tenacity, and while USC moved him all over the place, I liked him best inside at tackle.

This is where he flashed quick hands, brute power, and the ability to create some real pocket disruption.

He showed a flash-fire swim move that gets him into the quarterback’s face in a hurry.

Tuipulotu additionally flashed the kind of brute strength that can put an offensive guard on skates.

Flashed – – being the key word.

Three down defender

In today’s pass happy NFL, and the premium that is placed on pass-rushers, it is easy to lose site of run defenders.

One of the things I liked most about Tuipulotu is he is solid against the run, and shows the ability to power shed and fight through blocks inside to the ball carrier.

He fights in the run game and demonstrated it was important to him.

That is something I will not forget.

Tuipulotu entering the first-round discussion

I haven’t studied him yet on his 2022 game film, but the fact he leads the nation in sacks right now is going to get him some serious play on NFL Draft platforms.

I am excited to see how he looks this season, and see how his game has evolved.

On 2021 game film, Tuipulotu showed me enough as a former NFL Scout to be on the first-round back burner.

What does that mean?

It means, when I circle back to his 2022 game film, if he shows more consistency and looks even more disruptive, he could very well end up on my top-32.

He has flashed dominant traits confirmed with productivity.

I like him.

#49 Tuli Tuipulotu 6-foot-4, 290 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Grade: Second-Round – Fall 2022 Report

Projected by 1.9% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of November 9, 2022 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

2021 game film reviewed: Stanford, Utah and Washington State (click to watch games viewed to form this evaluation)

Level of competition: High

2021 stats: 48 tackles (24 solo, 24 assists) 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 passes defended

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report:

Thick muscular and active athletic defensive lineman who flashes disruptive quickness and power. Has some polish to him as a pass rusher. Decent hand usage at the point of attack. Consistently able to get a slight push inside, but excels when he either quickly presses into a gap or bull rushes blockers to create pressure. Can get neutralized at times straight-up too. Flashed ability to dip under pad level and penetrate through the backdoor of the pocket a couple of times off the edge, but got hung out to dry most of the time. Can stunt. Got stalemated against double teams. Run fighter, but too inconsistent. Did show good ability to shed blockers and make hard solid wrapping tackles, but too inconsistent doing do. Needs technique work in this area. Intriguing prospect.

What to watch for during the 2022 college football season:

1. Sack and pressure numbers
2. Where does he line up?
3. Does he look consistent?
4. Does he do a good job shedding blockers and making run stops?

Tuipulotu is for sure one to keep a close eye on.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.