Hudl is a great site that enables everyone to watch lots of film on high school athletes around the country. Kids looking to get their highlight tape out to division 1 coaches all put their tape onto Hudl. Some even put film of each individual game. In this series, I will break down the Hudl tape of Oregon commits and targets and how they would fit in as Ducks. Today will be focused on lineman and Oregon commit Popo Aumavae.

Aumavae was a long-time target Mark Helfrich and his staff throughout 2016. An official visit took place on November 12, 2016 and it must have made a big impression because he decided to commit before leaving Eugene. Although Helfrich and his entire staff were replaced less than a month later, new head coach Willie Taggart reaffirmed his commitment with a series of good visits and talks.

Aumavae is a great athlete and has the skill to play either offensive or defensive line at Oregon. He has alluded to being able to decide between the two on his Twitter account and has talked with both defensive line coach Joe Salave'a and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal. Both coaches will surely be fighting to get the talented lineman on their side of the football.

Offense

Aumavae projects as a tackle or guard along the offensive line at the next level. He played mostly tackle for his high school program but did move around a bit here and there. At right tackle, he showed great strength in the run game and was an absolute mauler. Aumavae also was very successful using his speed to pull from the guard position. His footwork in pass protection may need some fine tuning, but there is definitely a ton of potential there.

Defense

On the defensive side, Aumavae projects to be a 5-technique defensive end in Jim Leavitt's 3-4 system. He could also see time at nose tackle. Aumavae has a non-stop motor on defense and attacks his opposing lineman 100% on every play. His strength and size allow him to overpower most high school offensive lineman, but Aumavae's pass-rush moves were also impressive. He has great hands as well as a nicely developed swim move.

Verdict

It is a toss-up right now as to what side of the ball Aumavae will play on at the next level for the Ducks. In my opinion, he can be successful at either defensive end or offensive guard in college, but from what I have seen out of his Hudl tape I would think Aumavae ends up on the defensive side of the ball in the long run. He is more polished as a defensive lineman right now and Oregon is in desperate need of defensive ends and nose tackles. If he ends up on offense from the get-go, I expect a redshirt season based on depth. For the same reason, I would predict Aumavae plays as a true freshman if it is on defense.