Laiatu Latu scouting report: Exploring the UCLA edge defender's strengths and weaknesses

A four-star recruit in 2019 for Washington, Laiatu Latu saw some action as a true freshman, (15 tackles and 0.5 sacks), but then didn’t get onto the field the following two seasons, as he was announced to have retired due to a neck injury.

However, Laiatu Latu decided to return with UCLA in 2022 and immediately was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, despite not even starting right away, putting up 12.5 TFLs, 10.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

This past season, he even surpassed those numbers with 49 total stops, 21.5 TFLs, 13 sacks, two interceptions, forced fumbles and passes batted down at the line each. That made him a first-team All-American and the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Profile: 6-foot-4, 265 pounds; RS SR.

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Breaking down Laiatu Latu's scouting report

Run defense:

Being labelled more of an average athlete, Laiatu Latu ran the seventh-fastest 40-yard dash (4.64) with the sixth-fastest 10-yard split among defensive linemen at the combine, before looking smooth going through the change-of-direction drills and incredibly natural going through all the pass-rush drills
Does a great job of maximizing his length and keeping his frame clean in the run game, along with being able to suddenly disengage and help wrap up the ball-carrier at the line of scrimmage
Regularly squeezes tight-ends into the action when they’re tasked to seal him on the backside of run concepts
Yet when he’s put on the strong-side of multi-TE sets, he’d line up in a level two-point stance and play control, where he’d locked out and two-gap against those guys basically
His expert hand-usage also shows up in the run game, when he’ll hit a high swim to slip zone-blockers and force cutbacks or just swipe the reach of blockers away and meet the ball at a spot
You can tell he plays like a guy who had football taken away from him, going 100 mph at all times
While known for his effective pass-rush portfolio, Laiatu Latu earned the highest overall PFF grade among all FBS defenders in 2023 by quite a margin (96.3), thanks to also finishing with an 82.1 in the run game
Looked smooth dropping out into the flats and showed good spatial awareness, also earning a 94.8 coverage grade

Pass-rush:

The way Laiatu Latu anticipates the snap and how quick he comes out of his stance creates challenges at the start of reps
His ability to defeat the hands and win reps in the pass game is pro-like already, consistently hitting connecting points with a broad arsenal of pass-rush moves
How he times up the strike of the offensive tackle’s hands and is able to keep them from making contact with his frame makes him rip-move highly effective, to barely change his track to the quarterback
Has the flexibility at the hips to flatten on cross-chop moves or curve back around as the quarterback steps up
Packs a nice dip-and-rip paired with the euro-step in order to win inside against over-aggressive vertical sets
Yet when they set too softly and stand up early, Latu will quickly remind them that he’ll gladly go through their chest with the bull-rush – especially on those tilted rushes from wide-nine alignments
Frequently is able to gain late wins against pass-protectors who seem to be in good position, quickly getting to his counters and finding secondary escape paths with non-stop weaponry-like hand-usage
Has become highly effective at beating guards and centers cross-face with a perfectly-timed arm-over move, often times off stunts, and even when an extra pair of hands is available to help on Latu, he’s frequently able to slip through that crack between those blockers and affect the quarterback
After finishing tied for second among FBS edge defenders (with Will Anderson Jr.) in terms of his 62 total pressures in 2022, he put up the highest pass-rush productivity (13.3) among EDGEs in this draft with 100+ snaps rushing

Weaknesses:

Wasn’t really asked to take care of traditional run fits, where he’s stacking and shedding blockers, but rather was allowed to swipe past guys and make plays in that facet
Latu’s ability to come off the ball was a major plus in college, but a lot of that had to do with getting out of the tracks perfectly and I don’t think the raw explosion is quite up there with some other of the other top EDGE prospects
His 32.5-inch arms rank in the 16th percentile for edge defenders and you see blockers be able to re-fit their hands even if he wins that initial phase of the rush, because they can out-reach him and stall him by grabbing cloth
Missed a massive 23-of-86 attempted tackles across his two seasons with the Bruins (26.7% miss rate), because he gets so out of control attacking the backfield at times

Laiatu Latu's 2024 NFL Draft prospect

We have to address the elephant in the room. Unfortunately, Laiatu Latu was forced to medically retire momentarily and that’ll be very scary for any NFL team to invest a first-round pick in him.

Having said that, as I mentioned during the intro, I don’t have the necessary information or could probably judge it in a way that would allow me properly weigh that as part of my draft grades. Therefore, by simply grading the tape, no other edge defender has played the position as well over the last two years as Latu.

Regardless of inside or outside, he’s the most pro-ready pass-rusher in this draft with a repertoire of hand-combats many veterans in the league never even achieve. He doesn’t have elite length or athleticism – which are typically the guys who dominate on the edge – and he’ll need to learn how to operate in a more disciplined front in terms of defending the run.

Yet, if I had to bank on one guy giving me double-digit sacks in multiple years of his career and potentially already as a rookie, this would be my call.

Grade: Top 10