Sports Info Solutions (SIS) brings you the second annual edition of The SIS Football Rookie Handbook, with scouting reports and statistical breakdowns on over 280 college football players who are likely to be drafted or signed as rookie free agents in 2020 (a glossary for the below stats can be found here). New features for this year include unique and informative NFL team pages, research deep-dives by the SIS R&D team, and—for the first time ever—the NCAA version of their flagship football statistic, Total Points.
For our second offensive guard preview, we will look at Netane Muti. A brief explanation of our offensive guard grading scale can be found in our preview of Ben Bredeson from earlier this week.
Netane Muti: OG Rank 2 of 19 | Final Grade: 6.6
Report by Cyril Penn
One Liner
Muti is a rangy, powerful interior force who shows the ability to excel in the run and pass game, though an extensive injury history along with a lack of consistent body control and technical hand use may hold him back.
Overall
Muti is a left guard in Jeff Tedford’s pro-style offense and was asked to reach block on zone run concepts and lead the charge as a puller on power runs. He started all 19 games he played in with 17 starts at LG and 2 at LT. He redshirted 2016 after suffering an Achilles injury, missed all but two games in 2018 due to another Achilles injury, and missed all but three games in 2019 to a Lisfranc injury. Muti has broad shoulders and a big strong chest. As far as competitive edge goes, he is what you’d call a dog. He fights until the end of every play and even will let his competitive fire get in the way of his technique at times.
Pass Game
Muti is aggressive as a pass blocker, which is often a good thing, but occasionally gets him out of position. He has a quick, smooth kick slide and gets depth with ease. His quick feet allow him to mirror and match opposing pass rushers quite well. Muti’s low center of gravity and strong anchor provide a solid foundation that stymies opposing bull rushes, but he can be susceptible to polished pass rush moves as his hand use is too wild. He falls back on his heels at times, throwing himself off balance. While Muti does a good job keeping his hands active and violent, he doesn’t always have them in the right place. When he is faced with an interior stunt, he can find himself out of position by getting too locked on to the man he was initially supposed to block.
Run Game
When blocking for the run, Muti can truly unleash violence and power. His quick first step and power at the point of attack allow him to get a vertical push in mano-a-mano situations. His fleet feet allow him to cross face on reach blocks with ease and he can be devastating as a pulling guard on the edge. Muti will get a little reckless and overzealous at times, which causes him to lose balance on some plays and get wild with his hand placement on others. On combo blocks, Muti is adept at getting a good initial chip before moving to the second level to envelop linebackers. On rare occasions, he’s late getting his hands up and allows backers to get into his chest and discard him. All of his blocks are played through the whistle and he knows how to play nasty.
Last Word
Muti projects best as a left guard, but has the ability to play both guard spots. He is scheme versatile, but would be best used in a system that allows him to get out in space and utilize his range.
Medical Summary
By John Verros
Muti suffered three major injuries in his college career. He did not play as a true freshman in 2016 after suffering an Achilles injury. In 2018, Muti ruptured his other Achilles against Minnesota in Week 2. In his final year in college, Netane played in three games before a Lisfranc sprain sidelined him. Fresno State was hoping to avoid surgery, but after two weeks it was announced that Muti would undergo season-ending foot surgery. Nearly four months post-surgery, Muti was unable to participate fully in the NFL Combine. However, he was able to gain medical clearance while at the Combine to participate fully in the Fresno State pro day.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Range | Overaggressiveness |
| Play strength | Technical hand use |
| Flexibility | Body control |
Critical Factors
| Category | Grade |
|---|---|
| Reactive Athleticism | 6 |
| Anchor/Play Strength | 7 |
| Body Control | 5 |
Positional Factors
| Category | Grade |
|---|---|
| Run Block | 6 |
| Pass Block | 5 |
| Awareness | 5 |
| Footwork | 6 |
| 2nd Level | 6 |
| Range | 7 |
| Hand Use | 5 |
| Power | 6 |
| Sustain | 6 |
| Finish | 6 |
| Flexibility | 6 |
| Toughness | 6 |
Basic
| Penalties | Blown Block Splits | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | GS | Holding | False Start | Run | Pressure | Sack | Total |
| 2017 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2019 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
Team Stats
| Zone Run Blocking | Gap Run Blocking | Pass Block | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | % of Runs | Y/A | Pos% | % of Runs | Y/A | Pos% | Pressure% |
| 2017 | 53% | 4.1 | 43% | 36% | 5.1 | 48% | 32% |
| 2018 | 71% | 5 | 48% | 22% | 4.1 | 35% | 29% |
| 2019 | 60% | 5.6 | 47% | 23% | 5.4 | 49% | 35% |
| 61% | 4.9 | 46% | 28% | 4.9 | 44% | 32% |
Deep Dive
| Blown Block % | When Running to his Gap | Total Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pass | Run | Y/A | YBC | Pos% | EPA/A | Run | Pass | Total |
| 2018 | 2.20% | 4.90% | 3.3 | 1.1 | 30% | -0.15 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2019 | 1.40% | 1.20% | 4.2 | 1.5 | 45% | -0.02 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 1.60% | 2.40% | 4 | 1.4 | 41% | -0.05 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
