Marist Liufau had a tremendous rookie season.
Marist Liufau came into his rookie campaign several spots down on the depth chart, being the youngster in the room. He also entered the building with a ton of promise, making for an interesting linebacker competition between himself and Damone Clark for playing time behind veteran Eric Kendricks and promising second-year sensation DeMarvion Overshown.
Due to Kendricks and Overshown playing out of their minds, Liufau was only able to get his feet just a little wet in Week 1 versus the Cleveland Browns as he logged nine snaps and made two tackles. Over the next six games, Liufau got some valuable experience logging no fewer than 24 snaps and played his most in Week 2 over that span with 39 snaps while registering 13 tackles. However, there were some things that were noticeable struggles. He plays with his hair on fire, and with that type of aggressiveness, Liufau is prone to make some mistakes like over pursuing a play. Also, there would be a tendency to miss an assignment here and there. That’s to be expected, though, when adjusting to the speed and nuances of playing on the professional level.
The Cowboys got some devastating news after their Week 14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Overshown suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL, making it the second consecutive year that his season was cut short with a major knee injury. As unfortunate as that was for him, it meant more game experience and more opportunities to grow for Liufau, seeing as he had phased out Clark in the competition, and he didn’t waste time taking advantage. After Overshown went down, Liufau reordered 1.5 sacks against the Bengals. Liufau would play 239 snaps over the last four games of the year and produce 24 tackles, five pressures, and five hurries.
Yes, his aggressive nature would pop up every now and then even during his hot streak as he did log six missed tackles over the final month. However, the comfortability of playing the linebacker position routinely was noticeable as well as Liufau was more sure of himself when reading keys, and he was more disciplined. So, there are still things in his game to fine-tune, but Liufau laid some very good groundwork heading into his second season.
Overshown has said that he will play at some point in 2025 despite an extensive required rehab, but there’s no telling when or if that will be the case. This makes the development of Liufau even more critical, especially if Kendricks doesn’t return. From what he showed to finish the 2024 campaign, the future is bright for Liufau, and it gives promise for the linebacker position in Dallas.
