cromagnum Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Weird pick as most had him as a 5-6th round. I’m guessing this is a Zimmer pick. Those picks by defensive coordinators have not exactly worked out in the past. Would have preferred the RB from USC or Tennessee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiller Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 (edited) I have seen a left upside solid value on all picks up to this one. It is a huge reach from what I’ve read about him. I also am concerned that a lot of his “weaknesses” seem to mirror the problems we already have in containing the run game. Not quick to gap can get washed out and at times slow to react. crosses fingers that we will be wrong about him so far we’ve hit reasonably well on our early LB last few drafts. As Parsons Overshown and Clark have been on point. Personally I really expected them to go RB as I didn’t see value in any LB at this point. So maybe they already had a plan at RB i also see this pick was influenced by not having a fourth or early fifth rounder …. There is gonna be no one left who has a chance to play day 1 this year when we next pick. Edited April 27 by quiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt79511 Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Probably my least favorite of our early picks, which makes sense as it was the last one. It's never a good sign when your "best picks" are at the end of the draft (like Vaughn last year). Will be interesting to see how he fits into the LB rotation. Obviously Kendricks is going to start, can this guy work into the mix over Clark and Overshownn? Throw in Bell as an emergency option and it would appear we have some depth now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas94Ware Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 (edited) 6 hours ago, Rtnldave said: Perhaps they're expecting a lot of punts this year? Lol. Perhaps so Edited April 27 by Dallas94Ware Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas94Ware Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 10 minutes ago, matt79511 said: Probably my least favorite of our early picks, which makes sense as it was the last one. It's never a good sign when your "best picks" are at the end of the draft (like Vaughn last year). Will be interesting to see how he fits into the LB rotation. Obviously Kendricks is going to start, can this guy work into the mix over Clark and Overshownn? Throw in Bell as an emergency option and it would appear we have some depth now. I think their projections is that he is an early ST contributor who could learn to deal with early contact and to disengage and perhaps slide in as an added body in a couple years at LB. Just because he can't do it now doesn't mean he won't be able to later. At least that's what I keep telling myself ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas94Ware Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 Actually I just read a comp of him to Larry Izzo. All things considered that's not a bad thing to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plan9misfit Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 2 hours ago, Dallas94Ware said: I think their projections is that he is an early ST contributor who could learn to deal with early contact and to disengage and perhaps slide in as an added body in a couple years at LB. Just because he can't do it now doesn't mean he won't be able to later. At least that's what I keep telling myself ... And that’s an effing stupid approach, given this was a third round pick. You look at players like that in the 5th-7th rounds, not the 3rd. This was just a bad pick, pure and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextyearfordaboyz Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 One thing to consider here…Liufau was just the 4th linebacker taken. This isn’t an instance where they were hunting a position and had to settle after the bottom of the board fell out. He must’ve had a monster grade on the Cowboys board, relative to our expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas94Ware Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Upon rewatching this kid lot more. As even as a ND grad, former player, former coach and obviously a fan, I still don't watch as much college ball as I used to. I do have to say there is a lot to like here. I still fully believe his game translates a ton more to outstanding special teams play than a quality starting role. But I am coming around on the pick overall It still bugs me they didn't use this selection on a young runner. Yet still, I think there is a lot to like here ... He physical, downhill play is absolutely a need on the defense. It's a level of physicality and attitude the team hasn't had on defense since the Parcells era. So it fits not just a positional need, but a generalized unit need of some attitude, physicality and force. He explodes into his tackles full force and with aggression. Definitely a wrap up kind of guy too, which is relatively rare for the big pop kind of guys who typically drive into the ball carrier but do not wrap and ensure their big also results in an actual tackle. Just relatively rare in this common era. He does take good angles to the ball. Which is part of why I translate his game to kick.and punt coverages. It isn't often you find an aggressive, hard hitting line backer who also pursues from advantageous angles. It puts him in favorable positions against open field runners. He has quite the shifty lateral movement in the open field as well, which is another translation to special teams coverages, but is still a trait that is favorable for general linebacker play. The lateral shiftiness and ability to pop and tackle in the open field does give him a chance to learn some effective use in zone coverage if he puts together some actual coverage ability. There's definitely some carry over from the traits that stand out on special teams to being a solid defender on defense as well. I also certainly like his speed in pursuit. He isn't Fred Warner or Devin Bush with that near-safety level speed at LB. But he moves quickly and runs fast enough to not be beaten too often around the edge on a defense. But definitely effective as I keep pointing out, on ST coverage units. Combing this with smart angles as he is prone to, he could be a tackle machine on ST...but combing both with learning to read an offense, disengage blockers, and getting better in general defensive play, definitely bodes well for becoming a hell of a tackle machine on D too. He is very good at dodging blockers in open space. Another trait that favors ST. But that could also become useful on D. His drawbacks Ive pointed out before on here. But a short run down. Is being utterly enveloped by blockers when they get hands on him. Playing extremely reactive as if he was too unawares of what the offense was likely to do. Lacking any real ball skills and hence, cover skills. Being too aggressive to shoot the running lanes, allowing for big cut back chances by a runner. And because he struggles to break away from blocks, I'd not want to blitz him because it risks taking him out of the play instead of keeping him in it by staying off the line and trying to avoid any second level blocks. But really. The traits he does have that are good are not so common. And they really do stand out. There's a lot to like. And projecting him to a starting unit I think is a little risky because the traits he needs to fix or work on are stuff you really can't afford from your linebacker. But that doesn't mean they can't be coached and allow him to apply what you do like from him to being a bit of a stand out linebacker. I don't think I'd be afraid to play him on the base unit. But perhaps more situationally at best. But I would absolutely expect him to stand out early on special teams while trying to put the rest together to have a more functional and regular spot on the defense. Id still have rolled the dice on pretty much any running back at that spot just knowing I still have a grab bag of the most talented in the draft left to pick from. But I honestly can't hate on this pick knowing there's some good traits there to work with. Also, keep in mind, that kick returns are absolutely going to be a thing again now with the changes on how kickoffs work. So even if he never really catches on as perhaps more than a situational base unit LB, at best, you can still find good value in how his game translates to covering kicks. At that kind of a role on the team. 3rd round is a bit pricey ... But I guess I COULD also see where the traits he has could have made another team bite in the 4th, where they had no selection, giving them cause to over draft him if they were confident in being able to coach him up or even just finding high value in what he can do for the special teams. Probably not the best perceived value with the 3rd round investment. But if they liked what he does for ST enough and thought him to be coachable...yeah..I'll stress it again I could see their worry of him not being there in the fifth and it literally being pick him now or miss out on him entirely. Still hard to eat knowing the talent at RB that was still there though and that several of them, like Braelon Allen, translate into every down guys, and that others, like that kid from Tennessee, have an immense load of untapped talent that could develop into anything ranging from Duke Johnson to Chris Johnson (minus the record breaking 40) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVScout Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 I guess he will be the next Ferguson after this report: Average Backup Or Special-Teamer https://www.nfl.com/prospects/marist-liufau/32004c49-5509-8197-2b25-ee72cdcbe615 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextyearfordaboyz Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Finally got around to watching him. I was surprised how fun he is! That relentlessness and the closing ability. He’s not going to walk into the NFL as an elite run defender, but he does have potential for improvement there. As a rookie, you can see how Zimmer is going to love him in sub-packages and as a blitzer in the A-gap. Serves an immediate purpose, and then likely full-time starter in 2025. I liked him better than I liked Overshown’s Texas tape year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBoys Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 For those of you that don’t know, this kid is Puca Nacuas cousin. Don’t expect this guy to bust. He’s likely to overachieve. This is what Zimmer has to say: "Number one, he's brilliant. He catches on really quick. He wants to be so good and so intense that he's almost too much at it right now. The other thing is I think he's a really good pressure player and I think having that with (Micah) Parsons and another pressure player that is a linebacker or he can move somewhere else and Parsons can move somewhere else. I think those pieces add to confusion for the offense, plus he's a really good rusher. " It sounds like Zimmer plans to deploy Liufau in a variety of roles. Liufau can don many hats in a defense, but he's a high-octane downhill linebacker who flies to ball-carriers. Zimmer alluded to his aggression and energy, which pulls him out of position on occasion, but Dallas has long needed a linebacker that plays like their hair is on fire and has bad intentions when getting downhill. Zimmer seems keen on having Liufau rush the quarterback. That role is no stranger to Liufau, who ranked seventh in the nation in pressures (25) amongst LBs who played at least 125 pass-rushing snaps. He was sixth in pass-rush grade and third in PRP, which combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times they rushed the passer, per PFF (subscription required). https://thelandryhat.com/posts/surprising-cowboys-rookie-marist-liufau-already-drawing-praise-mike-zimmer-01hxw2y6v64p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBoys Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Cowboys released the first unofficial depth chart(which is typically careful with rookies) and Liufau is the only rookie with a starting role. Getting the nod over Overshown and Damien Wilson. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardHawk Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Oh lord…Zeke is already listed RB1. 2.8ypc here we come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D82 Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 19 hours ago, WizardHawk said: Oh lord…Zeke is already listed RB1. 2.8ypc here we come. It's not as if they actually tried to upgrade the position... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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