Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Laiatu Latu No. 13 on big board

Mel Kiper seems to be a big fan of former UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu. The ESPN, NFL Draft expert has Latu ranked No. 13 on his big board and explained why on ESPN First Draft.

“I love Latu. I think when you look at what he did at UCLA with the 23 and a half sacks, 34 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles,” Kiper said. You can say he’s the best pass rusher in this draft.. Kiper added that Latu is “natural, slippery, great bend, has counter moves, plays hard, gets off blocks, finds the ball.”

Kiper then said, “I think if it wasn’t for the neck injury, you were talking about a top 10, top 12 pick. I think he deserves to be rated where I have him. The medicals obviosuly been an issue all along, but for two years at UCLA, he was getting into that backfield. He can close, he can finish and being able to be instinctive and locate the football. …I’m rating him based on ability. I’m assuming that moving forward he’s not going to have any issues with his medical situation.”

Laiatu Latu puts on show at Combine

Kiper has Latu ranked the second-best pass rusher in the draft with former Alabama player Dallas Tuner ranked No. 10. At the Combine in February, Latu impressed scouts with his work on the field and shared his excitement while speaking to reporters.

“I’m super happy. It’s a surreal moment,” Latu said. “I’ve been working for that. I stumbled a little bit at the start, but I still got that low 4.6 [seconds]. So, I’m really proud of that. “The game is super smooth for me. Working those bags is like second nature to me. I can do it in my sleep. I’m working them all the time. I’ve been working them since I was a freshman at Washington. It’s just natural to me.”

Latu also talked about the neck injury he suffered during his freshman year at Washington. “They just want to know my whole story about my transition from Washington to UCLA, really just like what I learned about myself and about the game in that time away because a lot of people would probably give up in that moment,” he said. “I never put that past me. I just love the game.”

In 2023, Latu finished with sacks which led the Pac-12. His production on the field led to him winning the Ted Hendricks Award and Lombardi Award while being named an unanimous All-American.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report