Is Laiatu Latu Lions' EDGE of Future?

Could the talented rusher be paired with Aidan Hutchinson?

Last season, the Detroit Lions ranked near the bottom of the league in sacks as a defense. 

Outside of Aidan Hutchinson, no player finished with double-digit sacks, and just one, Alim McNeill, posted five. Several of the contributors on the EDGE will be free agents this upcoming offseason, including Romeo Okwara and Charles Harris. 

Because of this, the Lions would be wise to scour the free agent and draft markets in search of more firepower off the edge. 

One potential, intriguing solution is UCLA EDGE Laiatu Latu. He's an interesting story, having medically retired at Washington only to revive his career with the Bruins over the last two seasons. 

He was a force to be reckoned with for UCLA's defense each of the last two campaigns. This past year, he collected 13 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss in 12 games. 

However, it wasn't always a guarantee that Latu would reach this position, even after being a highly-rated recruit. He began his college career at Washington, and played parts of two seasons before suffering a neck injury in the spring prior to the 2020 season. 

That injury would force him to medically retire at that point. Yet, after sitting out a season, Latu entered the transfer portal, and signed with UCLA in 2022. The rest is history, as he was one of the Pac-12's most dominant defenders.

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He earned a plethora of awards in 2023, including being a consensus All-American as well as the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year. 

What makes Latu so successful is his deep bag of pass-rush moves. He has excellent hands, which allows him to rip and swim around blockers at the point of attack.

One area where scouts aren't as high on Latu is his arm length, which is a criticism similar to what Aidan Hutchinson faced coming out of Michigan. Hutchinson has turned out to be more than competent as a pass-rusher through his first two seasons. 

The medical history will be a major factor in where Latu lands in the Draft. He's a consensus first-round prospect based on his skills, but medical evaluations could be the difference between him going as high as the Top-10 or toward the back end of the first round. 

Latu was solid at the Senior Bowl, and has another chance to impress at the NFL combine later in the month. If he can put forth a convincing performance in Indianapolis, it may be tough for him to drop to the Lions' pick at No. 29 overall. 

As a result, the Lions will likely have to consider trading up to land the talented and very productive EDGE rusher. 

He does fit what the Lions are looking for, and he has some coverage capabilities if Detroit wants to use him at SAM linebacker. Holmes is known to be aggressive to get what he wants, so the Lions will always be a threat to move up. 

Latu would be an excellent addition to the Lions, as his high motor and strong skills would make him a difference-maker right away.