Jourdan Article on Laiatu Latu in The Athletic

This was an excellent writeup that I found fascinating. Latu's injury history created a monster in his dedication to his craft, all the while he couldn't do what he loved. Highly recommend reading despite being behind a paywall. I suspect much of her writing will be shared on TFT and Ramswire soon.

How star OLB Laiatu Latu masters the unique craft of pass rushing — and why

Some snippets:

Every rush tells Latu’s story. Whether subconsciously or not, he has made it so. The blend of joy and violence, meticulously packaged into a deep and NFL-ready arsenal of moves and countermoves reveals a young man who wants an answer to everything — to master a game he loves, despite what it tried to rip from him.

“I love football with all of my heart,” said Latu. “When I was told I couldn’t play football again … I felt like I lost my heart a little bit, I lost who I was. Getting football back, I felt like I got my heart back. I found my identity again.”

As Latu eased back onto the field full-time, the coach and player studied timing, hand placement and footwork. They watched film on pass rushers from all over the NFL — especially Los Angeles Rams star defensive lineman Aaron Donald’s cross chop move — and even some NBA players. Malloe and Latu saw that guard James Harden’s Euro step could transfer an attack point from the middle of a person, to the edge. Latu found that with similar footwork, combined with the right shoulder torque and hand placement, he could totally change an offensive lineman’s target.

“Similar drills that you would do with defensive backs or (inside) linebackers at times, and I just don’t remember ever seeing a guy who played his position — I’m taking them through these drills, and just like, ‘Wow,’ looking at how he moves,” Lynn said. “How he flipped his hips, how he’d sink and come out of breaks, his lateral (and) change of direction, his ability to move backwards. He’s just a special athlete in the way he moves.”

And he repped. And repped. And repped. Every day, endlessly.

“He was a pro in college,” said Lynn, who has previously coached with the Jets, Bills, Chargers, Texans and Ravens. “He just prepared a lot like the guys I was in the NFL with.”

“Once the injury happened, I think that’s when everything changed for him,” Malloe said. “He was so determined — not only to come back, but once he came back, he promised himself that he would never take anything for granted. It’s his perspective, because of what happened to him.”

Much more in the whole article
[theathletic.com]

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RFS69



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2024 09:18AM by RamsFanSince69.