Laiatu Latu: Retirement to Stardom

The road for Laiatu Latu to the 2024 NFL Draft shows his toughness and perseverance.

He was a 4-star top 100 highly touted recruit out of California and had high hopes of being a star for the Washington Huskies.

However, a severe neck injury (which required surgery) in 2020 ended Latu’s career and he retired from football when he was playing at the University of Washington.

Shockingly, he announced he was unretiring and committed to UCLA out of the transfer portal.

Is his neck healthy enough to star in the NFL?

I have no idea.

What I do know is Latu is a darn good college football player and pass rusher.

Where’s the proof?

Latu is third in the nation with 13.0 sacks in 2023.

Let’s dig in.

He’s getting to the quarterback

Latu is what a good NFL Draft prospect looks like. He has good size standing at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, a quick first step, and in general, an explosive get-off, which aids all the best pass rushers in the league.

Latu is excellent with his hands and when that’s combined with solid athleticism – – this makes a devastating combo that gives offensive tackles all kinds of hell.

Another thing that stands out is his pass-rush arsenal. This UCLA defender has a pass-rush play and he employs great moves like a cross-chop, rip, bull rush, and swim moves. He can come at offenses from a three-point or two-point stance pre-snap and he has the kind of versatility that would allow him to play in any scheme.

Latu can also line up inside pre-snap, which creates a mismatch against guards who stand no chance against his quickness and hand technique.

Per Pro Football Focus – – he had a 20.0% win rate in 2022 (to go along with 10.5 sacks). In 2023, he had produced 51 pressures as of Nov. 17.

Latu can even drop into coverage. Granted, he is much better in zone coverage (the defender drops into a general area of coverage responsibility) than man coverage (the defender has a specific player he has to cover). Latu shouldn’t be locked up in man coverage by no means.

His love for the game is a major advantage. He shows relentless pursuit and makes big-time plays causing turnovers to steal momentum for his team.

Run defense, what run defense?

Latu is a great pass rusher, but his run defense left a lot to be desired for my taste. Sure, there are impressive plays he makes in the backfield (splash plays), but on a down-to-down basis, too many times I saw him being pushed back and not disengaging from the offensive linemen.

They will pick on him in the NFL in the run game if he does not improve his ability to take on and shed blocks.

Latu is too good and too strong to let this happen. I believe (and hope) that will improve at the next level.

The elephant in the room that I touched on up top is Latu’s neck injury in 2020.

Is he healthy?

Will he be able to get cleared?

Is the neck injury life-altering and potentially life-ending?

That’s real talk.

In my opinion, if UCLA is one of the best colleges in the world, and if they have cleared him to play and he looks healthy, there is no need to let the past impact his draft or his future.

Scouting Report

Game Film Evidence (2022)

USC

Washington

Pitt

Colorado

(2023)

Oregon State

Coastal Carolina

I’m banking my job on him if I need a pass rusher.

Disruptive savvy pass rusher with a solid pass rush plan and a laundry list of pass rush moves to get it done at the next level. Shows a consistent motor and ability to make game-changing plays are traits of Latu you can not teach. To reach that pro-level he will need improvement in the run game. Needs to show a better motor against the run too.

Tatum Round Grade: First Round (Top-15 lock with good pre-draft medicals)

Looking forward to:

Latu remains healthy while continuing to dominate his opponent and being more physical in the run game.

Rashad Tatum has been a deep-rooted fan of football since his grandpa introduced him to the game at the age of five years old. He’s from Houston, Texas. He uses YouTube and All22 film to break down prospects to give his direct analysis of players. Rashad has a trained eye developed by his former high school coach Steve Strahan who was in the NFL and played at Baylor University. He currently covers the top-rated prospects in the NFL Draft for Firstroundmock.com. When writing about football he lives by the motto “Lover of football, fan of no team.”