Hercules Mata'afa - inside LB in 3-4?

[Tibs]

Early on, I loved watching this kid on tape. He seemed like a throwback, all-around great football player.

Since the combine, his stock seems to be in limbo. There's plenty of confusion about him, as he played defensive tackle at Washington State. Yes, defensive tackle at 6-2, 254.

I kind of forgot about him, then noticed this blurb in an article:

“I personally am intrigued by the possibility of him at inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. He has the aggression and comfort in playing close to the line of scrimmage after playing so much defensive tackle,” said Rang.

He may have run a slow 40, but seems to have plenty of short-area quickness.

Mata’afa has the fastest first step in all of college football. It rivals that of Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Cameron Wake. Being an undersized defender Mata’afa uses his incredible first step and all around explosiveness to blow by guards and centers, split double teams and prevent lineman who he gives up 50 or more pounds to from consistently pushing him back in the run game. He couples his first step explosiveness with a great hand usage (usually preferring a swim move versus the pass and a push pull versus the run, but has multiple moves in his arsenal) and knowing how to make himself skinny so there isn’t much to block. He made a play against Stanford that is very reminiscent of Jadeveon Clowney’s play against Michigan in the 2013 Outback Bowl.

This sounds like a Steeler backer to me:

Known as the toughest guy in the locker room. Every snap is important to him. Uses explosive get-off to disrupt play design from a defensive tackle spot. Impossible to secure him with reach blocks when he's playing three-technique. Zombie-like motor. Gets tackles and sacks thanks to secondary effort. Good lateral quickness to slide to the blocker's edge. Plays with single-minded desire to find the football. Has leverage to work under and around the blocker once he gets to an edge. Punishing tackler with heavy pads.

Anyone else been looking at this guy as a possible mid-round pick for us as an inside backer? I'm not here to pimp the kid, but to see if anyone's had some similar thoughts about him?

 

[GarrettG]

Didn't Teddy Bruschi play DT (maybe DE) at Arizona and switch to ILB as a pro? It's a project but sometimes it works out when a guy is just a football player with instincts and a high motor.

Sent from my [device_name] using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Superman]

he is on our radar. I saw where Peezy met with him, but can't find that now.

 

[Tibs]

My second theoretical question -- does anyone else think we need to find a serviceable guard in this draft? I see zero depth behind DeCastro and Foster, who's 32 years old, with ten years in the league. BJ Finney is the only interior guy on the roster who can plug-in at C or G, but that's it. Anyone think Ramon's play has been slipping of late? Maybe he still has a good season in him, who knows?

I know the focus is on D, where it should be, but I wonder if we'd take a OG earlier than expected if someone good is sitting there. /runs off to check OG draft prospects.

 

[slashsteel]

To me Finney looks like a starter in waiting. I mean sure you have a BPA there at some point you can draft one. But I think our team's needs are served better elsewhere. Like at WR, RB,olb,NT I'lber, and FS. But say that BPA is there at other positions that can make the team say wait a minute. I might even prefer a OT over a G and C selection.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Tibs]

To me Finney looks like a starter in waiting. I mean sure you have a BPA there at some point you can draft one. But I think our team's needs are served better elsewhere. Like at WR, RB,olb,NT I'lber, and FS. But say that BPA is there at other positions that can make the team say wait a minute. I might even prefer a OT over a G and C selection.

I think interior O-line is a need, probably bigger than we realize. Say either Pouncey, DeCastro or Foster go down and you plug in Finney, then what? There is nobody else on the team to play C/G. Losing Hubbard sucked as he was capable of playing up and down the line. Maybe they still sign a FA to shore that up. At OT at least you have Hawkins and Feiler as backups.

 

[slashsteel]

I think interior O-line is a need, probably bigger than we realize. Say either Pouncey, DeCastro or Foster go down and you plug in Finney, then what? There is nobody else on the team to play C/G. Losing Hubbard sucked as he was capable of playing up and down the line. Maybe they still sign a FA to shore that up. At OT at least you have Hawkins and Feiler as backups.

Perhaps after the draft the address that with a FA if they don't draft someone..........

 

[Superman]

Backup OG is a need, but at this point, in the makeup of the team, it's not a high priority. We've shown we can make do with a street free agent, though I would expect us to bring quite a few OGs in after the draft if we do not sign one in FA.

Vets still available:
Luke Joeckel (26)
Alex Boone (30)
Jahri Evans (34)
Shawn Lauvao (30)
Oday Aboushi (26)
Mike Person (29)
Brian Schwenke (27)
Joe Hawley (29)
Tim Barnes (29)
Josh LeRibeus (28)
Allen Barbre (33)
Don Barclay (28)
Tony Bergstrom (31)

 

[Tibs]

Backup OG is a need, but at this point, in the makeup of the team, it's not a high priority. We've shown we can make do with a street free agent, though I would expect us to bring quite a few OGs in after the draft if we do not sign one in FA.

Agreed. Colbert's tendency to sometimes throw us a curve with BPA got me thinking. In the meantime I've read up a bit on the OG draft class and it seems to run deep. Which means some decent talent may be pushed down to the later rounds.

Now let's get back to Mata'afa and inside backers, sorry for that brief side-track....

 

[FordFairLane]

Early on, I loved watching this kid on tape. He seemed like a throwback, all-around great football player.

Since the combine, his stock seems to be in limbo. There's plenty of confusion about him, as he played defensive tackle at Washington State. Yes, defensive tackle at 6-2, 254.

I kind of forgot about him, then noticed this blurb in an article:



He may have run a slow 40, but seems to have plenty of short-area quickness.



This sounds like a Steeler backer to me:



Anyone else been looking at this guy as a possible mid-round pick for us as an inside backer? I'm not here to pimp the kid, but to see if anyone's had some similar thoughts about him?

I love him as a football player but like everyone else question what to do with him. He’s a project no matter you decide to do with him but I feel situational pass rusher right off the bat then hope he can play special teams to earn a game day hat. My personal opinion is buck backer would be his best place to find a starters role in the NFL.


Sent from my iPhone using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Omar10213245]

 

[steelpastor]

.

I may be in the minority... but I still think that Matt Feller's best position is Guard.

Now... Hercules? I don't know... when I look at him, I see a smaller DE in a 4-3 and a Special Teams player... maybe even a Captain. I know that some see him at LB. Rob Rang sees him as a 3-4 ILB... but I am just not seeing it.

.

 

[bermudasteel]

I looked at Hercules early on...I agree tweener type of guy but he's gonna get torched on our system of he has to drop back and cover...

We have that problem with Dirty Red already...

Sent from my SM-G935P using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Tibs]

I looked at Hercules early on...I agree tweener type of guy but he's gonna get torched on our system of he has to drop back and cover...We have that problem with Dirty Red already...

You're prob right, may not be a good fit paired with V. Williams. We may need a different type of guy in there, with a different skill set.

 

[Tibs]

We've shown we can make do with a street free agent, though I would expect us to bring quite a few OGs in after the draft if we do not sign one in FA.

Right on cue, Supe.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Steelers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Steelers</a> have signed former Duquesne OG/C Larson Graham after a tryout today. Today is also his birthday.</p>— Josh Edwards (@JEdwar247) <a href="https://twitter.com/JEdwar247/status/983384980985450496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Steelerfan]

This was the first think I thought. You beat me to it.

 

[SteelerSask2]

This was the first think I thought. You beat me to it.

Yeah Id sign him based on his name alone. He might be a bad
Mata'afa too!

 

[F83]

for 3-4 yes would be to slow to a olb, still could play LOLB in a 3-4, but based on his 40 time speed seems inside is a better fit.