Today we will take a look at one of the top defensive tackles in this year’s draft class, Jay Tufele. Overall, the tackle class this year is weak, with little top-end talent. Although Tufele is considered one of the better prospects, he is not a first round talent to me. Let’s take a look at his skillset.
Strengths: For me Tufele was an interesting watch. He is listed at 305, but looks a little bigger than that on tape. Tufele displays good explosiveness and power coming off the ball. He shows good strength and can drive offensive linemen back towards the QB or RB. He occasionally displays a good ability to extend his arms, shed the block and tackle a RB in his hole. Tufele displays good athleticism and quickness, which translates to a good ability to move along the line and stunt. He excels at run stuffing, rarely getting driven back in 1-on1’s, often plugging up holes and making tackles when the ball comes to his gap. He also displays a good motor on the field from the snap to when the ball is gone.
Weaknesses: Tufele is very inconsistent. It begins with his first step when the ball is snapped; sometimes he explodes off the ball hard, but other times he stands up tall with his first step causing his pad level to be too high. When he stands up he allows the offensive linemen to get their hands on his chest, and when that happens he loses the rep. He lacks in length and can struggle to get to full extension on long-armed linemen. He displays a good swim move, but doesn’t really show a wide variety of moves and definitely needs to expand his arsenal. Tufele was often off the field on obvious passing situations, which is a bit of a concern. He does show occasional flashes of being able to get to the passer, but since he is taken off of the field on passing downs to me it shows a lack of belief from the coaching staff in his pass rush ability.
Bottom Line: Jay Tufele is inconsistent. He needs to work on his first step, and needs to become more consistent exploding out instead of up. He does show good power and strength when he keeps his pad level low, displaying a good ability to move around and plug his holes. The seemingly lack of trust from the coaching staff in his ability to rush the passer is concerning; however, I think he can improve his play by working his first step. A weak defensive tackle class may allow him to slip into round 1. I expect him to be an average starter along the defensive line who will have the most success if paired with another DT or DE that consistently demands double teams.
Draft Projection: Mid Day 2 pick
