Our countdown to the season opener continues with #98, defensive tackle Star Lotulelei.
Bio
DOB: 12/20/89 (age 26)
Place of birth: Tonga
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 320 lbs.
College: Utah
NFL Draft: 2013 (1st round, 14th overall)
Career Highlights: PFWA All-Rookie Team (2013), ESPN.com All-Rookie Team (2013), ProFootballFocus.com All-Rookie Team (2013), SBNation.com All-Rookie Team (2013), First-team All-American (2012), First-team All-Pac-12 (2011, 2012), Morris Trophy (2011)
Information courtesy of Wikipedia
NFL Stats
Year | Team | Games | Tkl | Solo | Ast | Sack | Safety | PDef | Int | TDs | Yds | Avg | Lng |
2015 | Panthers | 14 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | Panthers | 14 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | Panthers | 16 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career | Panthers | 44 | 90 | 63 | 27 | 6.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Star Lotulelei is the guy on the Panthers' defense who does his job well, but he rarely gets the credit he deserves because the result of his work doesn't show up on the stat sheet. Yes, he only had one sack last year, but most of the time his effort allowed someone else the opportunity to make a play. His main job is to clog the middle of the field and allow the rest of the defense to get to the football, as seen here:
That's a man doing his job perfectly. He funnels the offensive line into a confined space, trapping the runner behind the line of scrimmage with nowhere to go but into the arms of Charles Johnson for a loss of yards. (And if you noticed, Luke Kuechly was right behind CJ so if he missed the tackle, a play still would have been made.) That kind of effort doesn't show up in the box score, but it's a major cog in the wheel that makes the defense work.
But sometimes he does more than take on multiple blocks to free his teammates. Sometimes he just mauls the guy in front of him and gets a clear shot at the quarterback, resulting in a sack or a forced error for the opposing offense like this example from everyone's favorite Star GIF:
Just look at that. It's really not fair that a nose tackle can make that play. We should thank our lucky stars (yeah, I went there) that he's ours.
Star will pair with Kawann Short to form one of the best starting DT combos in the NFL in 2016, and provided he can stay healthy he should add 2-3 sacks to his career total by season's end. At the very least, he will continue to do his job so Short can earn all of Jerry Richardson's money over the next five years.
What are your predictions for Star in 2016? Share your thoughts in the comments!