Saints Rookie Mini Camp: Keep an eye on LB Sae Tautu
By Dean Mullen
Linebacker Sae Tautu could be one to watch this weekend at the Saints mini camp.
Sae Tautu is surely not a household name around New Orleans. Right now, he’s hoping to just make it to training camp. Tautu is a very interesting prospect, since he played defensive end 10 games last year. Although, he’s listed as a linebacker on the Saints roster, Tautu could end up being a nice hybrid player. In 2016, Tautu had his most productive year, making 50 tackles with 11 of them for a loss. In addition, Tautu has a total of six sacks and a forced fumble .
Tautu came out highly touted from Lone Peak High School as the #8 recruit out of the state of Utah. Five other schools tried to recruit him including Stanford and Washington St. He’s got nice size at 6-foot-3 and 245 lbs. Tautu also blew away the scouts at BYU’s Pro Day. He ran a 4.55 40-yard dash and an immaculate vertical leap of 38.5″ that equaled QB Taysom Hill. Hill is quite an athlete by the way.
Still, Tautu faces an uphill battle to even get to training camp, much less make the 53-man roster. Nevertheless, don’t count him out. He tends to go all out without holding back. Sometimes that has gottem him in trouble with targeting penalties. However, on the next level that intensity is what the defense needs.
The New Orleans Saints did draft a linebacker in the 3rd round with LB Alex Anzalone. There are still questions around Anzalone and his injuries sustained in college with his shoulder and arm. Both are not to be an issue, as he attempts to make his mark on the next level. Could Tautu provide some competition? It will be interesting to see both players on the field battling. Anzalone obviously is in a much safer seat, but in 2017 anything can happen.
Sae Tautu may be a name to remember come July and August.