NFL Draft Scout
Featured In/On:
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Name: Olakunle Fatukasi
College: Rutgers
Number: 3
School Bio/Stats Link: HERE
Height: 6-1 Weight: 234
Position: Pos2: OLB/ST
Class/Draft Year: rSr/2022
40 Low: 4.74 40 Time: 4.79 40 High: 4.85
> Projected Round: Stock: 
Projected High: HPFA Low: FA
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Data Scout Notes: X-HPFA-ILB/Not as SL Speed Fast but still Explosive/EOS INJ in 21/Def TL-89TT-11TFL-3.5SK-2FF in 21 2021: HMC...(+) Coming off Nov 2021 Hamstring INJ...PButkus/PNagurski/PBednarik...2020: 2ndC
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Combine Invite:
Height: 6012
Weight: 234
Zybek PD3X AKA "Official"
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225 Lb. Bench Reps:
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Dates: 03/22/22
Hand: 09 1/2 Arm: 32 7/8
Wingspan: 78
Height: 6012
Weight: 234
40 Yrd Dash: 4.79
20 Yrd Dash: 2.78
10 Yrd Dash: 1.63
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225 Lb. Bench Reps: 21
Vertical Jump: 38
Broad Jump: 10'02"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.36
3-Cone Drill: 6.76
40 Time Range: 4.78-4.80/Projected 4.65/+.14
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Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers, Player News
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Not long after he took the Rutgers job in December 2019, Greg Schiano went to the film room for a scouting expedition. The purpose, the Scarlet Knights coach said, was to take a deep dive into his team's top players in order to figure out what his progra m needed longterm on the recruiting trail. One of the first players he studied was a weak-linebacker who finished second on the team in tackles in 2019. "I thought he closed the ground to the ball carrier very quickly. He had a good accelerator. There we re some things we wanted to correct, some fundamentals, but overall we saw a very talented player," Schiano said. This was Schiano's first impression of Olakunle Fatukasi, who would end up leading the Big Ten in tackles last season. "He led the Big Ten i n tackles but more than that he's a student of the game," said Schiano, whose Scarlet Knights held their first preseason-camp practice Tuesday in preparation for the 2021 season. "He's going to be a really, really fine professional football player becaus e he loves it, he studies it, he lives the game, and takes care of himself the way that a pro football player takes care of himself. So he's a great example, not only his production on the field, but he's a great example for our younger players and for o ur newcomers that are just starting with us."Schiano brought in more than two dozen newcomers as part of Rutgers' recruiting class this offseason. But he said "the biggest recruit we signed this year" was Fatukasi, who opted to return for his fift h-year senior campaign rather than enter the 2021 NFL Draft. "It wasn't a tough decision at all," Fatukasi said, reiterating the tweet he sent out to announced his return following his All-Big Ten campaign. "Unfinished business. I wanted to get better as a football player, I wanted to be a better leader, a better teammate, and know the playbook better. Still not done yet," the Scarlet Knight nicknamed "O3?" said. - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022  ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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Olakunle Fatukasi is the type of football player who lets his play do the talking. Typically soft spoken in media interviews, Fatukasi didn't want to discuss his decision on whether to return for another collegiate season or enter the NFL as the Rutgers football campaign came to a close in December. Instead, the Big Ten's leading tackler sent out a simple tweet to the Rutgers faithful a day after concluding a breakthrough senior season. "2020 been a crazy year...but don't worry, I see ya next year," he wrote Twitter.After finishing second on the Scarlet Knights and 11th in the Big Ten with 85 tackles as a junior, Fatukasi emerged as one of the nation's premier weakside linebackers this past season. "He's obviously one of the better football play ers in our league," Smith said. "I have a soft spot in my heart for linebackers, having worked with that position before. We've had a pretty good run with guys like O3. I like his mindset. He's back just to take his game to the next level and hopefully h elp us defensively to take us to another level." - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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Fatukasi was the Big Ten's leading tackler during an unbalanced 2020 season, racking up 101 of them despite coming out early in the Scarlet Knights' last two games because of injury. The All-Big Ten media first-teamer banked 17 stops on two separate occa sions last year. - News Gazette Tribune
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: News Gazette Tribune
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The return of Rutgers' star linebacker duo won't just boost the Scarlet Knights' defense in 2021 - it may lead to some notable revisions to their record book. Olakunle Fatukasi and Tyshon Fogg will have a chance to crack the top 10 in career tackles at R utgers after opting to return for a fifth season of eligibility. The Queens native earned All-Big Ten honors after leading the conference with 101 tackles this fall during his breakout season. The production nearly doubled his output from his first three seasons. Fatukasi enters next season with 213 total tackles. He needs 111 more to pass Keith Woetzel, who is currently 10th in program history with 323 tackles. - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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Olakunle Fatukasi announced Sunday he plans to return to Rutgers for the 2021 season, passing up the opportunity to enter the NFL Draft following a season in which he became the only Big Ten player to crack the 100-tackle plateau. Fatukasi, whose 101 tac kles ranked 7th in the season, is the first Rutgers player to take advantage of the rule implemented earlier this fall by the NCAA that allows all fall-sports athletes to take an extra year of eligibility that won't count against a team's scholarship lim it in 2021-22. Fatukasi played in 12 games as true freshman in 2017, 11 in 2018, 12 in 2019 and all nine this season. Fatukasi, who has an older brother (Foley Fatukasi) on the Jets and a younger brother (Tunde) on the Scarlet Knights, figures to be a le ading candidate for the Butkus Award heading into the 2021 season. - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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2020 ALL-BIG TEN FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM (COACHES): LB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers,...One of 16 linebackers on the Butkus Award semifinalist list, Fatukasi is averaging 12.4 tackles per game to lead the nation. The 99 total stops are eighth in the country, w ith every player above having played at least nine games. The next highest total by a Big Ten player is 77. The 99 also signal the most by a Scarlet Knight through eight games since Brian Sheridan (112) in 1997, as 102 tackles are the program record in a Big Ten season (Trevor Morris, 2017).Fatukasi set a career high with 17 stops in the games versus Michigan and Penn State, recording double digits in 6-of-8 games. He also owns 11.0 tackles-for-loss, tied most by an RU player in a Big Ten campaig n, with 2.5 each versus No. 17 Indiana and Michigan. The 1.4 per game sit second in the conference. Following the season opener at Michigan State, the linebacker earned Bednarik Award National Player of the Week and Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Wee k after posting 10 tackles, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. - Rutgers Football
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Rutgers Football
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College football teams and players have learned to expect the unexpected. "I could say 2020's been a tough year for everybody," said linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi, who leads Rutgers (2-5) with 92 tackles. "Just us doing this, it's actually just making us stronger. Stronger mentally, physically, spiritually. Every day you've just got to wake up and grind it out." Fautkasi said he's found a way to help manage that grind. "What helped me with that is every day I meditate," he said. "Every time I meditate, i t makes me forget about the past and just worry about the now. That's what I've been doing lately." Part of the grind has been daily COVID-19 testing. Schiano waits each morning to get the results from from Will Gilkison, the associate athletic director for football. It's become a new normal, but it's still not exactly easy. "It makes every morning interesting," Schiano said. "Let's put it that way." - Asbury Park Press
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Asbury Park Press
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Rutgers linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi continued his breakout season with 18 tackles in last Saturday's loss to Penn State, running his Big Ten-leading total to 92 in just seven games this season (he had 85 in 12 games last fall). Fatukasi is also now lead ing the nation with 13.1 tackles per game. "He works really, really hard at being a great football player. He's the guy who's here getting treatment on his body, he's the guy here studying film, he's the guy who wants to meet extra with [linebackers coac h Bob] Fraser," coach Greg Schiano said. "There is usually one common denominator (with standout players), and it's hard work. But on top of that, he's a gifted guy with talents, and he's a very smart guy. So you throw all of that into the cooker and you have a really good linebacker. "He's an elite player. He's worked himself into becoming an elite player." - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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Linebacker is arguably Rutgers' strongest position, and Fatukasi is a big reason why. The senior is having a career year, leading the Big Ten in tackles and stuffing the stat sheet on a consistent basis. Against Michigan, he finished with 16 tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry. He showed his strength when he stonewalled Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara at the goal line to set up 4th-and-goal in the second overtime, though the Scarlet Knights did not take a dvantage. In the Scarlet Knights' only win, he dominated, earning Big Ten co-defensive player of the week honors for his outing. Fatukasi is playing at an All-Big Ten level. - Star Ledger
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Star Ledger
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OCT 26 BIG TEN CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers, Sr., LB, Far Rockaway, N.Y./Grand Street Campus,...Forced one fumble and recovered two fumbles in the Scarlet Knights' win against Michigan State...Registered 10 total tackles, i ncluding three solo tackles...Ended the Spartans' first drive of the second half by forcing and recovering a fumble...Claims his first career Defensive Player of the Week honor...Last Rutgers Defensive Player of the Week: Jonathan Aiken (Sept. 1, 2014). - Big Ten Football
(DS#19 ILB) rSr/2022 ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, Rutgers
News Source: Big Ten Football
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