Height

Weight

305

Final Grade

7.85

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vs. Fresno State (2019) // vs. Oregon (2019) // vs. ASU (2019)

Tufele is a 3-tech with strong, violent hands, great athleticism, and a strong motor. He rarely loses in 1-on-1 situations and lives in the backfield on passing downs. Tufele shows promise against the run with a strong upper body and the ability to stack and shed blocks with ease. He has a great motor and never gives up on a play. Tufele is at his best as a pass rusher but is no slouch against the run.

Tufele's struggles start with a narrow base that force him to play too high at times. This causes him to struggle against combo and double blocks. He can be a bit overzealous vs. the run, penetrating too far upfield and giving up gap integrity without the added TFL's. He rarely played anything other then the 3-tech at USC, but I have a feeling he could play other spots.

Tufele is a strong player who could contribute immediately at the 3-tech spot in a rotational role. His defining trait is his excellent athleticism which allows him to disrupt the passer at a very high level. Tufele wins with his athleticism, strong and violent hands, and his relentless motor. Tufele struggles at the point of attack against the run, with flexibility, and with his narrow base. I fully expect Tufele to wow at the combine and cement himself in the conversation as a good 2nd round pick for a team that needs to round out it's defensive line.

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Tufele is a remarkable athlete for his size. He has very good lateral agility and explosiveness, showing in how he tracks the QB and runs after ball carriers. Tufele also flashes very good upperbody strength when he rips across the face of run blocks and tosses OG's. His lower half is strong as well, but a narrow base can hurt him at times. His balance is not a strength, but is by no means a concern. Tufele's flexibility may be a concern when it comes to stopping the run, as he can take on Combo and Double blocks too high.

Big Play Ability

Tufele is at his best as a pass rusher. He is quick of the ball and has strong, violent hands that he loves to use in a club-swim move. He understands how to use leverage and head-fakes to set up offensive lineman for his rush moves. Where Tufele struggles a little bit is with finishing (he still consistently affects the pocket) and with his pass rush moveset. He needs to add some counters and secondary moves to his game so his rush doesn't die after one move.

While still good against the run, his struggle with flexibility and a narrow base can cause him some struggles at the point of attack and will cause him to get pushed out of his gap more often then I'd like. He stacks and sheds well, and rarely loses in 1-on-1 situations. He loves to shoot gaps and try to make plays in the backfield, but will sometimes end up too far upfield and lose gap integrity. Tufele is also a very solid tackler who didn't blatantly miss a tackle in any of the games I watched.

Tufele's game is to create disruption, especially in the passing game. He constantly pushes QB's off their spots and forces RBs to change their path. Tufele also has a really strong motor, consistently chasing after the play and saving TD's and first downs with plays from behind.

He would sometimes be late on reading run/pass or understanding where the ball was going, instead penetrating to far up the field. Other times he would do a good job of playing the block and making the right reads. He played solely the 3-tech spot at USC, but could possibly move to a 1-tech as well with a little bit of practice. He will have to work on his base and ability against double and combo blocks though.