METAIRIE, La. -- While working with a group of draft-hopeful linebackers in Dallas this offseason, former New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Shanle was struck by the passion and work ethic of one in particular. Shanle said he figured it was an undrafted free agent-type who was eager to get as much coaching as possible.

Then he looked him up.

Turns out, the player was Hau'oli Kikaha, who led all FBS players with 19 sacks for the University of Washington last year and was drafted in the second round by the Saints.

Hau'oli Kikaha led all FBS players with 19 sacks for Washington last season. AP Photo/Stephen Brashear

“This kid, right away …,” Shanle said. “He wanted to meet with me, go over chalkboard sessions, watch film, go over my plays that we ran [with the Saints]. I was completely blown away with his passion and how eager he was to learn.

“Because there were some other kids I worked with who were gonna be late draft picks or undrafted, and they had it all figured out. They didn’t need any help. This kid, there was never a moment he didn’t want to meet and talk football.”

Shanle, who started for the Saints from 2006-2012, agreed to help out at the Michael Johnson Performance Center just down the road from his house this offseason at the request of friend and former Dallas Cowboys strength coach Lance Walker.

Shanle also wound up doing some scouting for his former team in the process.

Shanle said after about a month of working with Kikaha, he reached out to Saints general manager Mickey Loomis and linebackers coach Joe Vitt.

Not that Kikaha wasn’t on their radar already since he was a first-team All-American who filled one of their biggest needs. But Shanle’s input couldn’t have hurt.

“I said, ‘If you guys are looking for a Sam linebacker, you need to take a look at this guy,’” Shanle said. “A lot of times teams like what they see on tape, but the X factor is, ‘What is this guy like? Is he gonna fit into our locker room?’ So I feel like having me tell them what he’s like and working with him for two months, I hope it carried a lot of weight and they trusted me.”

Kikaha, a native of Hawaii, is also a passionate student who reportedly had a 3.5 grade point average and took international trips in college to do cultural studies in French Polynesia and Tahiti. He also has competed in judo, among other martial arts, and wrestling.

Shanle said he and Kikaha “just kind of hit it off” because they have similar soft-spoken personalities.

“He’s kind of a shy guy; he’s not all about him,” Shanle said. “He doesn’t care if the spotlight’s on him, but he works. He works really hard. I think I saw a lot of myself in him when I worked with him.”

Except for the pass-rush ability, that is.

Shanle was an off-the-line linebacker throughout his NFL career, so he never rushed the passer as much as the 6-foot-, 253-pound Kikaha -- whom coach Sean Payton said will likely do that as a 9 technique on the edge of the line at times.

But Shanle said one of the great things about Kikaha was that he knows his weaknesses and wanted to learn how to improve the other areas of his game.

2015 NFL DRAFT RECAP Full coverage of the draft, held April 30 to May 2 in Chicago. NFL draft home page • NFL Nation: Draft wrap-ups

• NFL Nation: Thumbs up, thumbs down

• Kiper: Grades for all 32 teams • McShay: Most improved teams • McShay: Favorite picks • 2015 NFL draft tracker

• NFL draft trade tracker

• Stats & Info: NFL draft recap

• Undrafted free agents

“He would always tell me, ‘Let’s go over coverages. Talk about things I’m going to have to know when I drop into coverages,’” Shanle said. “I would run routes that tight ends are gonna run and kind of show him the tricks of the trade, what they try to do.”

Shanle also inadvertently gave Kikaha a head start on the other newcomers in Saints camp.

“I put ‘em through the Joe Vitt drills,” Shanle said with a laugh. “I always told those guys, ‘If any of you guys get drafted by the Saints, you’re gonna have the linebacker drills down.’”

The biggest knocks on Kikaha heading into the draft were his injury history (he had two surgeries to repair the same torn ACL early in his college career before bouncing back with 32 sacks over his final two seasons) and his speed. Kikaha was timed around 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his pro day.

Shanle said 40 times do come into play, but they aren’t as important as the instincts Kikaha shows to take that first half a step before other guys. And he quickly brought to mind an example that should excite Saints fans.

“I was in the same draft as a guy named Terrell Suggs, who ran a 4.8 40 or something that wasn’t impressive. He led the country in sacks (24 in 2002 for Arizona State), but teams were concerned about his 40 time,” Shanle correctly recalled of the Baltimore Ravens standout who has 106.5 sacks in his 12-year NFL career. “So if you have football smarts, which I think this kid does, I don’t think it’s gonna be a big issue. Especially if he can rush the passer the way he rushed the passer in college.”