Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2021 NFL Draft

#7 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Marlon Tuipulotu (USC)

6’ 2”, 310 pounds; RS JR

Marlon Tuipulotu

Once a top-five defensive tackle recruit, Marlon Tuipulotu only saw the field in one game as a freshman due to a back injury, before playing in every and starting all but two more games these last three seasons.

In that period, he recorded just over 100 tackles, 15 of those for loss and 6.5 sacks. In the absence of teammate Jay Tufele, Tuipulotu really shined inside for the Trojan defense in their limited amount of games and was recognized as a second-team all-conference selection in the process.

Tuipulotu almost exclusively played shade nose for USC last season (after he lined up more in the B-gap in 2019), where he offers a massive load of natural power. He lands those hands inside the chest of the center with force and just has that natural gift of being able to pull that guy to the side, as the ball-carrier approaches, with that crazy strength in his hands to strike the pads of the blocker backwards.

That is especially apparent when the guard is coming over on the backside of zone run plays, where he displays the ability to work through lateral contact, but also directly at the point of attack. Yet, at the same time, he has adequate mobility, to work down the line against zone run plays and he started attacking more through gaps this past season, combined with ripping through the reach of the blocker. Something I love about Tuipulotu is the great hustle he displays for a big dude, turning around and chasing after screens, or trying to run down receivers on sweeps towards the sideline constantly.

In the pass game, I saw the biggest change for Marlon last season. He looked much more dynamic in that area and seemed to have added a little shake to his rushes. The large D-tackle was looking to earn more of that quick wins at the line of scrimmage, with hand swipes and actually stepping around the blocker.

He added a nice spin move to make blockers pay for overcommitting their hips, as they tried to ride him past the quarterback when he got the edge of their frame on the initial move. Of course he still has the massive power to work into the depth of the pocket, when he is soloed up with guards or centers. And he continues to work and tests the ability to anchor among the interior offensive line as a rusher.

The Trojans lined him up more shaded to the outside shoulder of guards on passing downs and he was even looped all the way to the C-gap, where he showed good pace to make those games effective. While the sample size is small, Tuipulotu’s 15 total pressures last season on 159 pass-rushing snaps was actually significantly more effective than the other USC defensive tackle in this class – Jay Tufele – in 2019, compared to Marlon this past season as the solo-act, despite this guy spending the majority of snaps in-between the guards.

Nevertheless, the Trojans coaches still subbed him out quite a bit in third-and-long situations. There are certainly more sudden, quicker guys rushing on the interior and he will have to prove his value in that area, to become an every-down player. Last season was Tuipulotu’s only one with a clearly above-average pass-rushing win-rate and his pass-rush arsenal is still fairly limited.

He doesn’t have that quick burst to strike fear into blockers laterally. When defending the run, the one thing I’d like to see him do a better job of is working over the top of blocks, when he sees the ball-carrier run through the other side and he can still get more effective crossing the face of his man on outside zone plays I believe, to be able to defend against the flow and force cutbacks.

I think Marlon will play either one-technique or as a true nose for whoever drafts him. He may not be a dynamic pass-rusher necessarily, but he can offer plenty in that regard, to be a desirable asset either way.

He could be a rock in the middle in terms of defending the run, swallowing combos and occupying players in general. There are some limitations with Marlon and I never expect him to play significantly more than 70 percent of the snaps, but there’s plenty of value in what he presents, especially if he continues to stay on the arc he is on, in terms of much improved he was this past season, compared to 2019.