Eku Leota, Auburn Football News: Draft Scout Player News

08/29/22 - DE Eku Leota, Sr/2023, Auburn

Eku Leota posted 23 tackles, ten tackles for loss, and seven sacks for Auburn last season after playing the previous two years for Northwestern of the Big Ten. Leota took a while to adapt to the rigors of playing in the Southeastern Conference. He didn't get to participate in spring football last year. He missed out on time in the weight room since he didn't arrive to the Plains until July, which put him at a disadvantage. Last season, Leota put up numbers and made life easier for fellow EDGE rusher Derick Hall. Leota's prowess makes it difficult for offenses to double-team Hall, who made the pre-season all-SEC coaches team. Getting playing time last season was tough for Leota. Auburn had T.D. Moultry and others on the team were ahead of the 6?4 256 pounder.

Leota managed four starts and did well in his snaps. Now, he's expecting to be a leader on a team that needs to perform well on defense. "My expectation is that we're going to have a lot of sacks and a lot of pressures," Leota said. We have a lot of pass rushers on this team. We have a secondary that can lock people up, which gives us more time to get to the quarterback. I feel like this year; we are building a lot of chemistry on the defense since the start of pre-season practice." Leota has put on around 10 pounds of muscle. He told reporters that he was more a finesse pass-rusher earlier in his career. He's hoping the added strength will make him a better rusher since teams will have to fear his bullrush as much as his speedy moves. "I really want to work on being more consistent with my power moves," Leota said. I feel like I'm more of a finesse guy, but I really need to be more consistent with the speed to power as well, especially in the SEC because those guys are big." - Birmingham News

Sr/2023