Profile of Rey Maualuga

Rey Maualuga is a ferocious player.

That's the good news. The bad news...Rey Maualuga is a ferocious player. He reminds many of another former USC linebacker, Junior Seau. He is the most decorated linebacker to wear a Trojans uniform since Seau. In each of his three seasons as a starter, Maualuga garnered All-American and All-Pac 10 Conference recognition.

Rey plays at a very high level of intensity. He is natural at the position having the ability to key in and find the football quickly going through anyone who is in his way to make the tackle. Rey has little fear and between the tackles he is not afraid to take on a lineman and he is strong enough to fight off the block and make a tackle. For a middle linebacker he is one of the fastest most athletic players at the position. He is downhill player who can change direction quickly and can chase a play down from behind as well as from sideline to sideline.

All of this speed and agility though does come at a price...Maualuga has been know to overrun plays. opposing teams have used missed direction plays to take Maualuga out of position thus allowing the carrier to slip by and pick up big chunks of yardage.

Maualuga is great at dropping into coverage and disrupting routes and getting his hands on the ball. He particularly adept at sniffing out screen plays. His speed also puts a lot of pressure on opposing offensive lines where he can collapse the pocket quickly. His ability to rush the passer is impressive. His big play ability will keep him of the field for all three downs.

Maualuga is a pretty sturdy player suffering a hip pointer in 2007 that limited his playing time against Notre Dame and he suffered a hamstring injury at the NFL combine.

While his strength is on the inside he is versatile enough that he can adapt to play on the outside.

This video shows his speed and his hard hits.

Here is another...