Big Blue View
Darius Muasau is looking to raise the bar in Year 2
Few expected much when the New York Giants selected linebacker Darius Muasau out of UCLA with the 183rd pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
After all, he’s undersized and not terribly athletic. As a late round pick, the realistic expectations were for a core special teams player. And Muasau did indeed become a significant contributor on special teams, with 248 snaps played over the course of the season. But what was unexpected was him starting his rookie year by picking off Sam Darnold in Week 1, then stepping in to pick up the slack when starting linebacker Bobby Okereke went down with a back injury later in the year.
Muasau proved to be more than just a special teams player. He’s was a solid linebacker as a rookie, which he could owe in part to an uncommon route to the NFL. Muasau played for UCLA but he hails from Hawaii, where he started playing football at the age of six.
“It’s very physical,” he said, describing football growing up in Hawaii. “I would say that’s the one word to describe football in Hawaii. All we do is – a lot of us just run the rock so everyone just runs the ball. So, I went to Mililani High School and we were very pass oriented. My teammate was Dillon Gabriel, the quarterback for the Browns right now. I also played running back at the time so that was very unique in my journey, playing running back all the way up until like senior year. That’s when I made the transfer to linebacker. It was very hard mouth, just run-the-rock physical, contact every play.”
Though he has a tough, physical background, Muasau acknowledges that he doesn’t have the raw athleticism of his peers. He weighs in at 6-foot, 230 pounds, with 31 1⁄2 inch arms and a 4.7-second 40-yard dash. Despite lacking anything like prototypical measurables, Muasau filled in admirably in his seven starts as a rookie. To that end, he credits his instincts.
“I’m not the biggest, I’m not the fastest, I’m not the strongest, but when I get out there, I feel like that’s what makes me unique is just my instincts,” he said. “That’s why I’m able to play at this level and I feel like that’s what made me unique, that’s why I got to the NFL, I feel, is just my instincts.”
“It’s just from hours and hours of studying film, playing football since I was like six years old,” he added.
He also understands that his game has to be played between the ears to get the absolute most of the traits he does have, as well as studying other linebackers for every possible edge.
“I think it’s also just me acknowledging that I’m not the biggest, I’m not the fastest but just learning how to use my strengths and applying it out there on the field,” he said. “So yeah, just a lot...
