The undersized defensive lineman can quickly be a productive NFL presence at linebacker.
Sione Takitaki’s football story never seemed destined to get this far, to the point that the Browns took him in the third round of the NFL Draft. It could have ended when he was thrown off BYU’s team as a freshman or when he was suspended as a sophomore. It could have ended when he sat out the 2016 season to “screw [his] head on right,” or in 2017 when he finally put together the breakout season the Cougars had banked on, only as a 230ish-pound defensive end with limited NFL prospects.
Instead, Takitaki cleared one last set of hurdles in his final year in Provo, making a smooth transition back to linebacker and pushing himself into the 2019 draft picture. Now he’ll have to prove himself all over again.
That shouldn’t be a problem for the rangy linebacker with a track record of overcoming adversity — even when some of it came at his own hands.
Takitaki had to grow on and off the field to evolve into an NFL prospect
The obstacles in Takitaki’s path to the NFL were never about talent. They were always about fit.
The three-star prospect was a potent high school player — a dominant, trucking running back and a speedy, pocket-shrinking defensive end — but questions persisted about where he’d play in college.
He’d be an effective fullback, but that would limit his impact on the field. He was a powerful edge rusher, but at 6’2 and 240 pounds, there was a good chance opposing blockers would wash him out. Inside linebacker was a better fit given his size, but he’d have to prove he could keep up with tight ends in coverage while retaining his pass rushing presence from the second level.
Adding extra twists to his path were disciplinary problems that followed him through his early years in college. His LDS faith helped steer him to BYU, but his start there was inauspicious. He served multiple suspensions from the football team and was even thrown off the team before he could take the field as a freshman. That was for his role in a dorm room fight. He was reinstated when teammates voted him back onto the roster.
He missed 11 games for various reasons his first two years with the Cougars, but he also showed the raw talent — 11 tackles for loss including 6.5 sacks in 15 games — that helped convince BYU he was worth keeping around.
Takitaki missed the entire 2016 season after pleading guilty to misdemeanor theft, using the time to mature and get his priorities in order. In the meantime, BYU transitioned from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense and pushed the starting linebacker to defensive end for his first full season on the roster. He responded to the changes — both in the lineup and in his personal life — with aplomb.
In 2017, Takitaki played all 13 of the Cougars’ games, serving as a rare bright spot in an otherwise dour season. He finished the year with 12.5 tackles for loss and emerged as one of college football’s top linemen.
2018 was proof he could be an NFL linebacker
BYU transitioned back to a 3-4 in 2018, but instead of pushing Takitaki back to OLB, he took on multiple roles both inside and out as the stack linebacker (and team captain). This move paid dividends.
Takitaki shouldered the extra responsibility, most notably breaking out in a Week 3 upset over a top-10 Wisconsin team on the road. He was BYU’s chameleon at Camp Randall Stadium, bringing a powerful attack from both edges and limiting the Badgers’ usually tight end-heavy passing attack in coverage.
He finished his senior season with more than double the tackles of any of his Cougars teammates, including a 19-tackle performance in BYU’s 49-18 bowl game win over Western Michigan. That put him on the NFL Draft radar, but he still had to prove he could fill a full-time linebacker role in the NFL.
And then Takitaki showed out through the pre-draft process
He left BYU on a high note, but he didn’t cement his status as a potential Day 2 pick until the Cougars’ season ended. He was initially relegated to a spot in the East-West Shrine game, until an injury to Texas A&M linebacker Otaro Alaka gave Takitaki the chance to double-dip as a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster.
He turned heads in both exhibition games and the weeks of practice that preceded them.
#BYU LB Sione Takitaki beats #LSU TE Foster Moreau off the edge. Impressive by Takitaki so far. He literally flew in during the morning for the practice. #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/ph8V59j0Zy
— Joseph Yun (@DuckinNoles247) January 24, 2019
This momentum manifested into an invitation to the NFL Combine, where Takitaki stood out as an above-average athlete for a linebacker. His 4.63-second 40-yard dash time are a good sign he won’t get torched by tight ends up the seam. His vertical jump, broad jump, and bench press performances suggest he has the strength and explosion to shed blocks and fill holes against teams that might be a little more powerful than Utah and UMass.
Takitaki’s spent the past five years proving himself as a college football player, responsible adult, and now as a legitimate NFL prospect. The player who was once thrown off the Cougars’ roster before he could play a game is now one of Mel Kiper’s top 100 prospects. But even after answering question after question about his game over the past two years, his ceiling is still unclear. During his visits with NFL franchises this spring — and there have been several — he’s been talked up as a special-teams maven first.
“I play violent out there, and teams tell me I’m made for special teams,” Takitaki told KSL-TV’s Sean Walker. “That’s been a big up for me. I know some guys love special teams.”
That got his foot in the door in Cleveland, but it’ll also give him the opportunity to test himself once more. Given his results over the past two seasons, it’s an exam he’ll pass.
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