I gotta be honest, I did not watch one Fresno State game the last 3 years. I don’t lie like other draft experts. I do, however, do a lot of homework on the NFL Draft. When Netane Muti bench pressed 225 for 44 reps, he officially got my attention. It was time to figure out who the Fresno State guard really was. When you plug on the footage, it’s hard not to be blown away. Netane Muti has a chance to be a dominant guard at the NFL level.
Below is a 6 minute video of Muti from his Freshman season in 2017. This is a bad MF’er.
I don’t care who you are. It’s hard to find 6 good minutes on any offensive lineman that shows him ragdolling people over the course of one season. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that many pancakes from a Freshman prospect. A lot of things stand out.
A: The pure power is ridiculous. 44 bench press reps are no joke and the power is not hard to spot on the footage. Sure, it’s a YouTube video but that tape is hard to ignore.
B: Netane Muti is NASTY. He doesn’t want to just steal your lunch money, he wants to kill you after the whistle. You need dudes like that. It looks like he swallows everyone whole. He’s not just strong, Muti is nasty too.
Yet Netane Muti remains a bit of a mystery man. He has good size for the position, 6-foot-3, 315. He’s only played one full season of college football. The Fresno State product missed significant time in 2018 and 2019 with a torn Achilles and shoulder problems. He also has shorter arms for the position that measure under 32 inches. You can also tell he’s much better in a phone booth. He moves okay but that’s not his strength.
The running game will be no issues but how will he hold up in pass protection? Muti is the kind of guy where the fight is over if he gets his hands on you. While Muti did play some power 5 schools, the overall level of competition wasn’t the greatest either.
I think a good player comp for Netane Muti could be someone like Will Hernandez. If you can remember, Hernandez came from UTEP where the level of competition was in question but he was a people mover. Hernandez went to the Senior Bowl and throw people out the club. Hernandez wasn’t the most agile player in the world, but his raw power was hard to ignore. The Giants certainly didn’t make a mistake when they picked Will Hernandez in the 2nd round and has churned out a nice career for himself.
So, is Netane Muti the next great guard in the NFL? We don’t have a ton of information but teams should probably pull the trigger. It’s hard to go wrong with an offensive lineman who is so physically dominant.
