New Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter has been familiarizing himself with the team in recent weeks and that process has been helped by having familiarity with some players from their time in college.
Minter was the defensive coordinator at Michigan the last two years and one of the players that he saw on tape was edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu. Tuipulotu was a second-round pick last year and he posted 53 tackles, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery while appearing in every game.
In an interview with the team’s website, Minter said he likes what he’s seen from Tuipulotu in tape from both levels.
“I think his last year, we might have had one team that we were watching where there was some crossover film of USC,” Minter said. “The cool thing about him is he’s a guy in college that they moved all over the place — off the ball, up on the edge, they even had him played out in space a little bit. You look at how he played his rookie year and I thought he stepped in and played really well for a rookie. Didn’t look like a rookie, didn’t feel like a rookie when you were watching him. He plays with the toughness and the physicality that we certainly want our guys to play with.”
Tuipulotu’s production as a rookie could factor into the team’s decisions this offseason. They released linebacker Eric Kendricks on Tuesday, but have more work to do to get under the cap and Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack carry two of the largest cap hits on the roster. Should one of them Tuipulotu will be an even more significant piece of Minter’s defense.