With the 189th overall pick, the Eagles have taken USC DT Marlon Tuipulotu.
It’s their second DT selection of the draft, the first being Milton Williams. In six games in 2020, Tuipulotu had 23 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks. Tuipulotu was named to the All-PAC 12 first team.
What Are Tuipulotu’s Strengths and Weaknesses?
Here’s NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein’s scouting report on the USC product:
“Tuipulotu can play both nose and three-technique. He really raised his profile in 2020 with more consistent tape relative to his total number of games played in the Pac-12. He’s a little undersized to be an interior run stuffer but makes up for it with excellent use of hands and twitchy upper-body power to jostle and shed blocks. The sack production looks OK but he is lacking a go-to move and a counter to get quick wins needed along the interior. He will need to add more mass to play nose in the pros but does have the strength and toughness to find reps at the position. Tuipulotu will check all the boxes for personal and football character and could become a solid rotational defender in an even-front scheme.”
Some of Tuipulotu’s strengths include his toughness, quick hands, and upper body strength, while his negatives include his size, his tendency to “wear down,” as the game goes on, and minimal agility.
Here’s Tuipulotu’s spider graph and measurements (via MockDraftable):
If it wasn’t clear by this point, the Eagles want to build through the trenches, even though this draft class wasn’t touting the best DEs and DTs. Howie gets what he wants, I suppose.
The Eagles still have yet to address LB, and have only taken one CB so far in the draft. We’ll see if they grab those positions with their three remaining picks.
