Los Angeles Chargers 2nd Year Defender Wreaks Havoc in Preseason Game, Picking Up Where He Left Off

Tuli Tuipulotu was the 8th edge rusher off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft. Had the Los Angeles Chargers realized that he would finish his rookie season with the second most pressures among the entire rookie class they may have pulled the trigger on him in the first round rather than Quentin Johnston .

Of course, the NFL is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ ecosystem. What Tuipulotu did last season hardly matters at all. Now it’s all about this season. Can he follow it up in his second season?

Tuli Tuipulotu Elevates Los Angeles Chargers Defense

If you like one-game sample sizes to extrapolate, then the answer to that question is absolutely. Tuipulotu was one of the few bright spots to emerge from the Week 1 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Tuipulotu didn’t officially register a sack, but he was the one who created pressure that resulted in four quarterback hits and three sacks. Had Dre’Mont Jones not committed a face-masking personal foul while Tuipulotu was in pursuit of Sam Howell , he would have likely tallied a sack.

The Chargers defense is going to be relying heavily on the pass rush for the success of the unit, if not for the entire team. Jesse Minter’s defense is designed to create pressures using simulated pressures and disguised fronts. Tuipulotu is going to be a huge factor in that working at a high level.

Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa will certainly be the centerpieces that everything else is built on, but Tuipulotu’s emergence as a real threat allows the Chargers defense to dictate the pace of games and styles of offenses teams play against them.

Tuipulotu stacked 51 pressures, second most on the team behind Mack. Those resulted in 36 hurries, seven hits, and eight sacks. He was also fourth on the team in STOPs, a PFF stat that tracks tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense.

More must-reads:

• The Chargers Need a Competent Backup Quarterback, Should They Trade for Former Raven Or Sign a Veteran?
• Studs and Duds From Chargers Preseason Week 1 Loss to the Seattle Seahawks