Tag Archives: Michael Tauiliili

Tauiliili Signs With Colts

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Michael Tauiliili, an All-ACC linebacker in his senior season at Duke, became the third Blue Devil this year to sign with an NFL team, inking a two-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts over the weekend, the program announced Monday.

Tauiliili was easily Duke’s best defensive player last year, racking up All-ACC and All-American honors while leading the conference with 140 tackles. He picked off four passes, caused three fumbles and recovered one, and his tackles mark was also good for third in the country.

After going undrafted, Tauiliili worked out at the team’s rookie mini-camp last weeekend, and he returns to Indianapolis May 19, after graduation.

Eight NFL Teams Represented at Duke’s Pro Day

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According to Gil Brandt of NFL.com, eight NFL teams were on hand to scout some Duke seniors at their recently held Pro Day. Even though Brandt doesn’t mention the blazing 4.36 40-yard dash time that wide receiver Eron Riley apparently posted last Monday, he does make some notable commendations and predictions regarding a few Blue Devils.

Linebacker Michael Tauiliili didn’t blow anyone away with his times and measurements, but he did have a solid showing in a well-rounded workout. It was enough for Brandt to call the productive middle linebacker, who earned a reputation for having a nonstop motor during his tenure at Duke, a “future special teams star in the pros.”

Maybe the biggest surprise was offensive tackle Cameron Goldberg, who, at 286 lbs, may be a little light to anchor an NFL line. But as Brandt pointed out, Goldberg showed some outstanding upper-body strength for the scouts.  Goldberg put up a whopping 37 repetitions at the 225 lbs bench press–a number that would have made him the second strongest offensive lineman at the NFL Combine, behind only Texas Tech’s Louis Vasquez and his 39 reps.  Though it is just a number, there’s no doubt that Goldberg’s measurable strength could persuade an NFL team to take a flyer on him in the sixth or seventh round.

Check out Brandt’s full blog post, which includes more testing results from Tauiliili and Goldberg along with some commentary on safety Adrian Aye-Darko and tackle Fred Roland.

Monday Musings, 1/26

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The View From Above

So Duke is No.1 again. After beating Maryland Saturday—well, is beating really the right word? Dismantling? Embarrassing? How about this: You know the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” in which Brad Pitt ages backward toward infancy? If there is a verb for making someone all at once feel like a child, then, yeah, that’s what Duke did to Maryland.

Of course, the lead up to the game was, ‘If Duke can defeat the inferior, but always pesky Terrapins, then they’ll be No. 1 in the country.’ Well, we’ve already covered the fact that ‘defeat’ doesn’t capture what really happened, so naturally Duke did earn the top spot in the land for their impressive outing. But there’s still this belief among some that the Blue Devils are overrated.

Take for example the fact that 10 out of 72 AP voters, which consists of select members of the media, chose a team other than Duke as the best team in the country. On the other side, though, only 1 out of 31 voters in the ESPN/USA Today poll didn’t go with the Blue Devils. Maybe there’s something to that, and maybe not. But with all the whining there is about Duke being favored by the media, sometimes it doesn’t always seem to add up that way.

Wednesday, when Duke takes on No. 6 Wake Forest, we’ll all start to see just how good Duke really is. Granted, something similar was said in this segment before the Georgetown game, too. And we all saw how well Duke handled that one.

But, speaking of the Georgetown game, it’s time for this week’s…

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Tauiliili Named Defensive MVP Of Shrine Game

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An ESPN report detailing Duke linebacker Michael Tauiliili’s weaknesses couldn’t have been the highlight of the Houston product’s week. From the pre-game story:

Tauiliili read his keys and located the ball quickly, but he got engulfed by offensive linemen at times and failed to show sideline-to-sideline range. Tauiliili doesn’t appear to be much of a leaper, either. Quarterbacks consistently got the ball over the top of the 5-11 linebacker when throwing intermediate-to-deep crossing routes.

Tauiliili might have put those speculative doubts to rest, at least for some time, Saturday in the Shrine Game itself, when he racked up a game-high 13 tackles in taking Defensive MVP honors in his team’s win.

NFL Draft Scout has Tauiliili as the 17th best linebacker in the draft, and one CBS Sports mock draft foresees him going in the sixth round. It seems as if the biggest knock to Tauiliili right now is his height. At 5-foot-10, he may not be able to penetrate the line or compete with interior linemen. Still, he was as good as anyone in the country in his senior year, and his game performances–especially after Saturday–may give him a bigger bump.

Tauiliili Heads Home In NFL Draft Quest

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Photo courtesy HoustonTexans.com

Duke linebacker Michael Tauiliili is turning heads in his hometown as he participates in practices at the training facility for the NFL’s Houston Texans in preparation for this weekend’s East-West Shrine Game. The Walter Camp All-American is looking to become the first Duke football player selected in the NFL Draft since tackle Drew Stojny was selected in the 7th round by the New York Giants in 2004, and a successful week of practices in front of numerous NFL scouts could give Tauiliili’s draft stock a critical boost.

Sporting News Today’s Russ Lande has a scouting report from Houston on how Tauiliili has graded out so far:

He shows quick feet, explosiveness and the ability to change directions easily. He looks good in space and should test well in personal workouts. He does not look instinctive and is often late in finding the ball.

Additionally, HoustonTexans.com has an article on the Shrine Bowl experience so far of Tauiliili and other local Houston area players. In the article, Tauiliili discusses his excitement about playing in front of family and friends as well as how he hopes to prove through the pre-draft process that his relatively small 5-foot-11 height should not be considered by NFL teams as a disadvantage.

Although there are still three-plus months to go before the draft and the all important evaluation phase of combines and team pro days is still to come, in what round do you think Tauiliili will be drafted?

Monday Musings, 1/12

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The Wild, Wild, uh, Atlantic Coast

Nothing has put college basketball on its head more than the last week of ACC basketball. And the madness started and ended with the Tar Heels. Once the just-hand-them-the-trophy-now Tar Heels, North Carolina suddenly doesn’t appear as unbeatable. But this team is still crazy good, and even the best teams hit rough patches along the way some times. UNC’s loss to Boston College last Sunday hit the basketball world like an earthquake, with powerful aftershocks that rippled throughout the nation when the Eagles followed up one of the school’s biggest wins in recent history with one of its most deflating in a defeat to Harvard three days later.

Then Wake Forest beat North Carolina Sunday, and the school’s fall from grace is complete. Well, that might sound too harsh, but if you consider just how high a pedestal people had placed the Tar Heels, at least now they seem a little more mortal. Not to say they can’t still win the national title. They can, of course. But if the chase for this year’s banner wasn’t already wide-open, at least now the conversation surrounding it will be.

And don’t forget about No. 10 Clemson. Other than No. 1 Pitt and No. 2 Wake Forest, the Tigers are the only remaining undefeated team in the land.  They haven’t exactly slain any giants yet, but that could change soon when they face the Demon Deacons Sunday and then North Carolina three days later. Or they, too, could receive a reality check a la Roy Williams and Co. Only time will tell. Continue reading →