Cassh
Maluia.
Cassh
Maluia.
Wyoming
"A sturdy, instinctive weak-side linebacker whose block-shedding, takeaway instincts and experience beside Logan Wilson made him a natural special-teams bet for a big-linebacker defense."Pre-draft read
Maluia is a thick, compact weak-side linebacker with the eyes of a former high-school quarterback. Lined up at WILL beside Logan Wilson, he reads guard-to-back keys, scrapes flat down the line and arrives with his pads low. His best trait is block-shedding for his size: he takes on climbing guards with a strong inside shoulder, rips free and finishes with wrap-up tackles instead of shots.
His secondary value shows up in space. He carries a patient zone drop, reads the quarterback's eyes and puts himself in throwing lanes, which produced takeaways at every level of his Wyoming career. Perimeter speed is his limit, so he wins with angles, not burst. The separator is his hands at the catch point and on the ball carrier.
Big-linebacker 3-4 or 4-3 under front that keeps its off-ball backers clean to scrape downhill and drops them into underneath spot zones.
Year 1: core special teamer and backup WILL. Ceiling: early-down rotational linebacker who comes off in nickel.
A speed-based spread-heavy defense that asks its linebackers to carry seams and match running backs man-to-man in space.
His value depends on special teams, because his defensive role narrows sharply in sub packages.
Cassh Maluia forces and recovers a fumble in Wyoming's win at Utah State
Takeaway rep from Wyoming that shows the hands and finish on the ball carrier that defined his college game.
Cassh Maluia Big Hit And Rip Ball — USA U23s vs American Raptors (2022)
Post-NFL rugby clip of the contact and ball-ripping instincts he carried from linebacker into his second sport.
Cassh Maluia Sitting Down The Tackler — USA U23s vs American Raptors (2022)
Rugby carry showing the compact power and low pad level that made him a tough linebacker to move.
Maluia entered the 2020 draft as a sturdy, instinctive off-ball linebacker built for the middle of the field. At roughly six feet and 248 pounds, he looked more like a box enforcer than a sideline-to-sideline chaser, and the plan for any team was clear: special teams first, early-down depth second.
His résumé carried real starting experience. He opened his first two college starts as a true freshman in the Mountain West title game and the Poinsettia Bowl, then became a fixture next to Logan Wilson in one of the conference's best linebacker pairs. As a senior he posted 61 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and two interceptions, including an end-zone pick against Missouri, and earned honorable mention All-Mountain West. The flags were range and coverage speed against spread offenses, plus modest pass-rush production.
Boards generally viewed him as a late Day 3 or priority free-agent type, overshadowed by his teammate's buzz. New England took him in the sixth round, 204th overall, betting on his toughness, football intelligence and fit in its big-linebacker, special-teams-heavy system.
- 01
Block shedding
Meets climbing guards with a strong inside shoulder, keeps his outside arm free and rips off contact before the runner can cut back behind him.
- 02
Instincts
A converted high-school quarterback who reads guard-to-back keys quickly and flows to the football without false steps or wasted motion.
- 03
Ball skills
Recorded interceptions in each of his last three seasons and forced turnovers from zone drops by reading the quarterback's eyes into throwing lanes.
- 04
Tackling
Drops his pads, wraps and runs his feet through contact, rarely leaving tackles on the field in the box or on the perimeter.
- 05
Experience
Started 37 games at Wyoming beginning as a true freshman in a conference title game, giving him a mature feel for checks and adjustments.
- 01
Range
Lacks the recovery burst to run down outside zone and screens to the boundary, so late reads turn into chase tackles from behind the play.
- 02
Coverage speed
Struggles to carry vertical routes by running backs and tight ends, which limits him to underneath zone on passing downs.
- 03
Pass rush
Totaled only 1.5 sacks across four seasons and offers little as a blitzer beyond a straight-line gap shot through the A-gap.
- 04
Length
Compact frame gives offensive linemen a chance to latch on first when he is late to trigger, and he can get washed on down blocks.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Wyoming | 13 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Wyoming | 12 | 74 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2018 | Wyoming | 11 | 46 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | Wyoming | 13 | 61 | 0.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | — | 49 | 197 | 1.5 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Games, tackles, sacks and interceptions from The Football Database (Wyoming, 2016-2019), which sums exactly to 49 games, 197 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 4 INT; TFL and FR from CollegeFootballData, PD from Wyoming (2017-2018) and CFBD (2016, 2019). Wyoming lists 50 games, 38 starts and 47 tackles in 2018. Forced fumbles are not split by season in verified sources, so they are shown as unavailable.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Undrafted downhill linebacker who earned limited special-teams snaps in New England before falling off the roster.
Big, physical Patriots linebacker who grew from Day 3 pick into an early-down starter and play caller.
Productive, instinctive college linebacker whose lack of speed kept him on practice squads rather than game-day rosters.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
New England made Maluia a special-teams project in 2020. He was cut at the final cutdown, returned to the practice squad and was elevated to the active roster several times, appearing in nine games with no starts. He logged 86 total snaps that season, 76 on special teams and only 10 on defense. Waived in March 2021, he re-signed in August, was released again at cutdowns and spent three days with Tennessee before being waived for good.
In hindsight, his tools never translated to the speed of NFL linebacker play, and his special-teams snaps did not carve out a roster spot. The more remarkable story is what followed: he converted to rugby through the Colorado XO crossover program, played for the American Raptors, and reached Major League Rugby with the Chicago Hounds, San Diego Legion and California Legion. As a draft pick, the selection was a clear miss; as an athlete, he found a genuine second career.