(2023) Eku Leota- Edge/OLB - Auburn

Eku Leota

EDGE/OLB

6’4, 257

Senior

Strengths	Weaknesses
Explosive off the Line High Motor and Effort Every Play Pass Rush “Juice” Great Speed and Size Good Run Defender Fantastic Tackler and Great in Pursuit	Lack of Pass Rush Moves Can be Outmuscled by Blockers Lack of Experience as Every Down Player Severe Injury This Season

2022 Statistics (Per PFF)

*(No Rankings due to injury, only played 5 games)

2022 Statistic	Total	Ranking *	Rank Percentile
Pressures	18	N/A	N/A
Sacks	4	N/A	N/A
Hurries	10	N/A	N/A
Pass Rush Win Rate	N/A	N/A	N/A
QB Hits	4	N/A	N/A
Tackles	12	N/A	N/A
Missed Tackle %	5.9%	N/A	N/A

Write-Up:

Eku Leota is a senior pass rusher from Auburn, who only played in 5 games this season before tearing his pectoral muscle and having surgery. He played 2 years at Northwestern before transferring to Auburn as a junior. He mainly lined up as 5 technique in college, and where he projects to play in the NFL.

Leota is one of my favorite edge sleepers in this class. I, hopefully like others, went in to watch Auburn for Derick Hall and Colby Wooden, but kept watching Leota make plays when he was on the field. He is almost identical to Hall in terms of explosiveness off the LOS, and is pretty similar athletically and size-wise. He does lack the pass-rush arsenal of a guy like Hall though, and does rush often seemingly without much of a plan. However, he has an extremely high motor and is never not moving during a play. His legs are always churning during play, and this extends to the run game as well. Leota is great in run defense, excelling in both tackling and pursuit. 

Overall, Eku Leota is incredibly talented, but also very raw at times in his game. He is always the hardest effort guy on the field, even if he does not always know what he is doing. His game certainly needs polish, but he possesses the high motor and size profile to grow into a solid player at the next level. Obviously, the hope is that he could turn into an every down player, but his effort level could make him an extremely effective rotational piece for any defense.

POSITIVES:

Eku Leota pops off the film at times, and the biggest reason why is his explosiveness off the line of scrimmage. Auburn rarely used both at once, but Derick Hall on one side and Leota off the other edge may have been one of the speediest edge duos in all of CFB. Leota is a really solid athlete as well, possessing great speed and agility. He is shockingly bendy as well, which is always dangerous when paired with the good speed that Leota has. His effort level is off the charts, he always seems to be around the football. This effort level makes him one of the better run defending edges in the class, even if instinctually he does get lost at times. He excels as a pursuer and is a really solid tackler.

NEGATIVES:

The biggest knock on Leota is the overall lack of polish to many aspects of his game. Oftentimes, there is no pass rush plan for Leota and he can be easily knocked off track by stronger blockers. His play recognition does need some work, and he does get lost every once and a while on what gap to fill. The rest of the negatives with Leota revolve around things out of his control. Obviously, he suffered a severe injury that ended his season early, so there will be question marks regarding his durability. The other negative is his role at Auburn. This season was going to be his first as an almost every down player, as he rarely went over 35 snaps in his first season at Auburn. He was averaging 57 snaps this season before the injury, which should be a sign that he can take on an every down role if necessary.

Draft Projection: Late Day 2/ Likely Day 3