Marist Liufau, LB Notre Dame: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Liufau was a three-star recruit from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in the class of 2019

Marist Liufau finished his five-year career at Notre Dame with his best season yet. Some of Liufau’s flashes could put him in the conversation to be a top 100 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but it seems more likely that he’ll reach Day 3.

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Marist Liufau, LB Notre Dame: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Fifth-year weakside linebacker from Kalihi, Hawaii

Background: Liufau was a three-star recruit from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in the class of 2019. He was the No. 457 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 448 for On3.com. Liufau was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 78 grade out of 100. According to 247Sports, he totaled 40 tackles, including nine tackles for loss with eight sacks, as a high school senior. Liufau was a 2018 Interscholastic League of Honolulu Open Division All-Star and won the 2018 Interscholastic League of Honolulu Defensive MVP. He was invited to participate in the 2019 Polynesian Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Injuries & Off-Field: Missed 2021 season with a broken ankle

Awards: 2023 First Team All-Independent (College Football Network)

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, arm length appears to meet NFL standards, powerful when challenging blocks, challenges climbing offensive linemen, aggressive arm extensions to bounce off blocks, some pop in hands, beats up blocking tight ends, pulls blockers forward and off balance, agile enough to slip or evade some blocks, motor runs hot, hustles in pursuit, laterally flows to the football, good lateral range, quickly surveys multiple gaps, quick to diagnose run plays and tracks ball carrier well, patient at the second level and waits for a lane to the ball carrier, good vision to find lanes to shoot, heat-seeking missile when flying into the backfield, squares up running backs in the hole and drives through them, delivers explosive (but legal) hits, carries running back routes out of the backfield, strong coverage option against RBs, times the snap well, extensive history as a blitzer and some 5-tech snaps

Cons: Lean frame with narrow hips, some hip and lower body tightness, average athlete, closing burst and acceleration are average, lacks high-end speed, speed appears to be a significant limiting factor in pursuit, doesn’t have true sideline-to-sideline range, overpowered when blockers get into his pads, out-reached by climbing linemen, too easily removed from plays by linemen, hand usage must improve to shed blocks, slides off tackles, lacks a developed set of pass rush moves when blitzing, rushed often for a player with no pass rush plan, limited awareness of action behind him in zone, eyes get glued to the quarterback and his awareness of surrounding players fades, zone coverage depth is shallow, lacking coverage instincts, doesn’t close throwing lanes consistently, limited upside in man coverage

Overview: Liufau has special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. He has a lean frame with narrow hips and arms that should meet the NFL’s length thresholds. Despite his build, Liufau flashes good power when challenging blocks. He packs some pop in his hands and uses powerful arm extensions to create immediate separation when he lands the first blow. Liufau makes quick work of blocking tight ends. He also pulls blockers forward and off balance to slip past them. Liufau is agile enough to evade some climbing offensive linemen while remaining in the play. His motor runs hot against the run and in pursuit. The fifth-year linebacker has good lateral range but lacks true sideline-to-sideline range. Liufau stays square to the line of scrimmage to survey multiple gaps quickly. He tracks the ball carrier well and patiently waits at the second level until a lane to the running back opens. Liufau has good downhill vision to find lanes to shoot. He turns into a heat-seeking missile when firing through gaps into the backfield. He’s known to deliver some explosive hits. Liufau is only an average athlete, but he carries running backs on routes out of the backfield regularly. As a blitzer or undersized 5-tech, he times his rush exceptionally well to shoot gaps untouched but isn’t effective when faced with a blocker. The Hawaii native doesn’t have a pass rush plan or arsenal of rush moves. He suffers from some hip and lower body tightness. Liufau’s closing burst and acceleration are average, and his lack of high-end speed appears to be a significant limiting factor in pursuit. He is overpowered when blockers get into his pads and is sometimes outreached by climbing linemen. Liufau is too easily and too frequently removed from plays by offensive linemen. His hand usage as a block shedder must improve. The former three-star recruit slides off tackle attempts often. He displays limited awareness of action behind him in zone coverage and mainly plays in shallow zones over the middle of the field. Liufau’s focus on the quarterback leads to his awareness of surrounding players fading. He lacks coverage instincts, doesn’t close throwing lanes consistently, and hasn’t displayed upside in high doses of man coverage against slot options.

Overall, Liufau’s instinctive flashes scream top 100 pick, but he hasn’t played consistently enough to warrant that type of investment from every team. Liufau has developmental upside, but he’s a recruit from 2019 who comes with some clear physical limitations. Expect him to primarily operate on special teams early in his career.

Role & Scheme Fit: Backup weakside linebacker in a Cover 3 heavy scheme

Round Projection: Late Fourth to Mid Fifth

Size: 6'2 1/4", 239 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 01-19-24