When I first watched Liufau's junior film my initial thought was the kid is a player, but where is he going to play? During his junior year he played safety and LB, and always seemed to be able to get to the ball no matter where he was lined up at. He spent a lot of his time at the backend of the defense, but I didn't think he would have the speed to play safety at the next level, or he didn't have some of the coverage traits that you'd want. When he was down in the box, I felt that he was there just because he was an athlete, and would manage to find the ball somehow, and never mind any instincts for the position.
Fast forward to his senior year, and his team asked him to do some different things. As you can see, he spent a lot of his time coming off the edge, and disrupting things. Part of that was he was now up to 195lbs, but he certainly wasn't going to play the Vyper position at the next level. He was impressive though during his senior year, and it solidified my initial impression of him. Just like you take a young player like JOK, or in this class a player like Prince Collie, you know the athletic ability and the other football traits are there, now just see how he progresses and find a spot for him.
When he got to ND, I thought Rover, or in a few years (2021) the Buck position where he would have the necessary weight and strength to compete. For starters, I think he's athletic enough to still play Rover, but he's just scratching the surface of what he can become at Buck.
If you watched him against Duke, which was his only start and his highest snap total (15 against the pass & 13 against the run) by far heading into North Carolina, you would see on that first series that he was the one around the ball, while JOK made 2 costly mistakes. However, for me it was an athlete playing the position, and someone who lacked the necessary discipline to play on the inside, and especially against the run. He was going to make plays, but the question was, what's he doing on the plays he's not making? This isn't a knock on Marist because he's relatively new to the position, and in my opinion, I thought he was still a year away.
Yesterday, someone had a thread up about him, and where has he been? I commented that he's being asked to play in space and blitz today. From what I know of Marist as a player this was a perfect opportunity for him because he's going to be allowed to play a bit more free. He ended the day with 35 total snaps and the big difference was that 24 of those came on passing plays while only 11 on running plays.
Marist also doubled his season tackle total with 5 and was credited with a half sack.
If you look at his season PFF grades he currently grades out overall with a 63.3 grade, however his pass rush grade is an impressive 82.6 grade.
I thought Marist played well yesterday, and it seemed like the game plan for him was right in his wheel house. The thing about Marist is his potential is huge, and compared to most players on the roster, I think he has one of the highest upsides. In 2021, I think we'll be talking about him a lot more.
Fast forward to his senior year, and his team asked him to do some different things. As you can see, he spent a lot of his time coming off the edge, and disrupting things. Part of that was he was now up to 195lbs, but he certainly wasn't going to play the Vyper position at the next level. He was impressive though during his senior year, and it solidified my initial impression of him. Just like you take a young player like JOK, or in this class a player like Prince Collie, you know the athletic ability and the other football traits are there, now just see how he progresses and find a spot for him.
When he got to ND, I thought Rover, or in a few years (2021) the Buck position where he would have the necessary weight and strength to compete. For starters, I think he's athletic enough to still play Rover, but he's just scratching the surface of what he can become at Buck.
If you watched him against Duke, which was his only start and his highest snap total (15 against the pass & 13 against the run) by far heading into North Carolina, you would see on that first series that he was the one around the ball, while JOK made 2 costly mistakes. However, for me it was an athlete playing the position, and someone who lacked the necessary discipline to play on the inside, and especially against the run. He was going to make plays, but the question was, what's he doing on the plays he's not making? This isn't a knock on Marist because he's relatively new to the position, and in my opinion, I thought he was still a year away.
Yesterday, someone had a thread up about him, and where has he been? I commented that he's being asked to play in space and blitz today. From what I know of Marist as a player this was a perfect opportunity for him because he's going to be allowed to play a bit more free. He ended the day with 35 total snaps and the big difference was that 24 of those came on passing plays while only 11 on running plays.
Marist also doubled his season tackle total with 5 and was credited with a half sack.
If you look at his season PFF grades he currently grades out overall with a 63.3 grade, however his pass rush grade is an impressive 82.6 grade.
I thought Marist played well yesterday, and it seemed like the game plan for him was right in his wheel house. The thing about Marist is his potential is huge, and compared to most players on the roster, I think he has one of the highest upsides. In 2021, I think we'll be talking about him a lot more.
