Hercules Mata'afa

[805BoysInBlue]

What are my fellow fans thoughts on this guy? I saw him during the season bein a USC fan, and man him and Vea were impressive together. He seems to be projected on day 3 from what I've read.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I'd LOVE for us to draft him! He's one of my favorites in the draft.

 

[Carter]

Coolest Name in the Draft.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I wanna see if he lives up to his name in the bench press.

 

[Carter]

If he doesnt bench press 500 lbs can we say "hes not living up to his Name?" lol

 

[tm1119]

Extremelty interesting guy to watch. A 260 (ish) lb guy playing DT effectively in a power 5 conference is pretty impressive. He’s probably a high effort rotational SDE in the NFL. Would be a good candidate for a 4th/5th round comp pick...I’m sure Rod will love him and his effort

 

[805BoysInBlue]

Extremelty interesting guy to watch. A 260 (ish) lb guy playing DT effectively in a power 5 conference is pretty impressive. He’s probably a high effort rotational SDE in the NFL. Would be a good candidate for a 4th/5th round comp pick...I’m sure Rod will love him and his effort

Yeah he seems relentless, and we seem to like those tweener guys. Him playing different positions hopefully catches our scouts attention.

 

[kiheikiwi]

Wrote about this guy earlier this season. Watched him play in high-school - Lahainaluna. Really, really strong guy - probably better fit for a 3/4 defense. But as a 4th round pick would love to have him. Unfortunately think he will go late 2nd/3rd round.

 

[kiheikiwi]

What are my fellow fans thoughts on this guy? I saw him during the season bein a USC fan, and man him and Vea were impressive together. He seems to be projected on day 3 from what I've read.

Different schools, washington for Vea, Washington State for Mata'afa.
Interesting tidbit - Mata'afa beat out Vea and everyone else in the country to be named polynesian college player of the year.
My Ex's son was the centre on his high school team.

 

[Leadbelly]

The player that lines up next to Mata'afa is Daniel Ekuale. He's not nearly as big at 6'3" / 305 but more in line with the mobile 1tech DTs the team goes for. Good late round or undrafted prospect not getting much mention.

Another WSU guy I like is the OLB, Frankie Luvu. Luvu is often just a step behind Mata'afa heading toward the ball carrier. Had a lot of would be sacks and TFLs eaten up by his teammate. I don't see the mobility for three downs in this defense but he flies around to where he'd be a consideration for replacing Kyle Wilber in rush packages and special teams.

 

[DanA]

Dude looks about 17 y.o. I think he's still developing.

 

[KingintheNorth]

bein a USC fan

Cowboy and Trojan fan?

Nice to see fellow genius on the board.

 

[Cebrin]

 

[Tangle_Foot]

Hercules is one bad Mata'afa...sorry low hanging fruit

 

[Rayman70]

Dont care if he benches 1000 pounds and is relentless..BUT CAN HE PLAY? I've see it too many times where a player shoots up the draft board and the word potential and relentless gets thrown around at nauseum ,then they get over drafted and can't play or stay on the field. Pulling for the kid big time..but I would only give up a 6th or 7th on him. He may even go undrafted. He is really small for a DT.

 

[Alexander]

Nice active player who really I really don't know where you play him. He is not going to be a 250lb DT in the NFL like he was used at Washington State.

End? Well he was standing up the majority of the time, now you are asking him to get down in a stance where his lack of size will be exposed. OLB? Better be in a 3-4 where he rushes all the time.

He reminds me a lot of Hau'oli Kikaha.Yes, I know they are both Polynesians, but Kikaha was used similarly at Washington and the Saints are having a hard time getting him on the field in regular packages.

It will take a creative DC to get the best out of him.

 

[Rayman70]

Nice active player who really I really don't know where you play him. He is not going to be a 250lb DT in the NFL like he was used at Washington State.

End? Well he was standing up the majority of the time, now you are asking him to get down in a stance where his lack of size will be exposed. OLB? Better be in a 3-4 where he rushes all the time.

He reminds me a lot of Hau'oli Kikaha.Yes, I know they are both Polynesians, but Kikaha was used similarly at Washington and the Saints are having a hard time getting him on the field in regular packages.

It will take a creative DC to get the best out of him.

I would try him out as a Middle Linebacker.

 

[Alexander]

I would try him out as a Middle Linebacker.

Not in Marinelli's scheme, I wouldn't.

He seems a little like Bruschi was.

 

[Verdammung]

He's a tough one to figure out. He's not playing inside in the NFL and I don't doubt his ability as an edge rusher; he's shown ability on stunts to move outside and beat tackles. He undoubtedly played out of position at Washington State; how much of his tape can you trust? He struggled with power; was it because he was matched against guards? He was a penetrating force against the run because guards couldn't get a hand on him; will he be able to do that against tackles?

Two things irked me about him that aren't position specific; his hyper-aggressive, penetrating play style put him in back positions to play the run and he is really bad at attempting deflections.

What round should he go in? To answer that question, open up Google Spreadsheet and type in the formula =RANDBETWEEN(1,7)