Dallas Cowboys select Marist Liufau in third round of 2024 NFL Draft
Notre Dame’s Marist Liufau has officially gone pro as of today. That comes after the Dallas Cowboys selected the former linebacker for the Fighting Irish in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Liufau has spent the past five years in South Bend. During that time, he appeared in 39 games, including 28 starts with 25 coming in the past two seasons. He would have had even more games under his belt had he not missed all of 2021 due to an ACL injury in the preseason.
In his collegiate career, Liufau posted 117 tackles with a dozen for loss, four sacks, a forced fumbles along with three recoveries, three deflections, and an interception.
As a graduate this past fall, he totaled 44 tackles, three sacks, a pair of deflections, and both a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Those were among the best numbers on the Notre Dame defense, including being third in sacks.
Liufau, who comes from Honolulu, Hawaii, played high school football at Punahou. He was a three-star prospect there as the No. 448 overall recruit in the 2019 cycle. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also rated as the No. 52 LB in the class and the No. 6 player from The Aloha State.
Liufau has some work to do to continue his efforts from Notre Dame into the NFL. Still, he’s on his way now as a draft pick after the Cowboys selected him.
What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Marist Liufau
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein believes that Liufau’s energy at his position is a positive and a negative with his game. Still, while he has some drawbacks of his own, he still graded him as a Day 3 selection, specifically in the fifth round, for what he could bring to a team on defense or special teams.
“Angular linebacker with endless energy but a level of impatience that can occasionally pull him out of positioning,” Zierlein wrote. “Liufau plays with good short-area burst and a willingness to step downhill and leverage his gaps. At times, he will move unnecessarily and get trapped behind a second-level blocker or lose track of where the play is headed. Liufau offers third-down value as a spot dropper with good field awareness and might have enough man-cover talent to line up over big slot targets from time to time.”
“He appears to lack the instincts to be a consistent tackle-maker as a pro but does have the qualities to potentially compete as a nickel linebacker with special teams value as a Day 3 pick.”