Mosiah Nasili-Kite one of Auburn's top spring risers as 'disruptive' presence

Mosiah Nasili-Kite one of Auburn’s top spring risers as ‘disruptive’ presence

Hugh Freeze has had more than five weeks of practices to evaluate his Auburn team, and he has seen a good deal of progress on both sides of the ball as he looks to put his fingerprint on the program.

As his first spring as head coach on the Plains wraps up this week, Freeze made note of several standouts on the field, but there’s one player in particular who has “definitely” caught his eye from a sheer development standpoint — and it’s one of the program’s newest additions. Maryland defensive line transfer Mosiah Nasili-Kite has impressed Freeze with how far he has come along since the start of spring practice, providing welcome depth to the Tigers’ new-look defensive front.

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“I thought he improved, probably, the most from practice 1 to last week on the D-line as any,” Freeze said Monday. “He was disruptive and plays the game extremely passionately and hard.”

One of the smaller players along Auburn’s defensive line, Nasili-Kite has made a big impression during his first spring on the Plains. The 6-foot-2, 288-pounder has been working at both defensive tackle and defensive end during his first spring on the Plains, as assistant Jeremy Garrett has cross-trained many of the players across the Tigers’ defensive line.

What Nasili-Kite lacks in size, relatively speaking, he makes up for in sheer power and athleticism, which he has used to his advantage this spring while carving out a role for himself in Ron Roberts’ defense.

“One thing is that he’s very twitchy,” Garrett said. “He’s not the biggest, but that kid has some power and strength — and he moves well. So, it’s just putting him in position to use his ability and to do what he does well. He has quickness and he’s strong. So, we want to have him on the move, want to have him doing different things to highlight his strengths.”

Nasili-Kite has had no problem doing just that on the field this spring after transferring from Maryland, where he spent the last three seasons of what has been a winding journey to the SEC. He originally signed with Washington in 2018 and spent his freshman year with the Huskies but didn’t see the field. He then transferred down to the JUCO level, playing the 2019 season at Independence Community College in Kansas, where he posted 32 tackles and a sack.

That led to another Power 5 opportunity at Maryland, where Nasili-Kite flourished during his three seasons with the Terrapins. During his time in the Big Ten, Nasili-Kite made 80 tackles, with 14.5 for a loss and nine sacks. He had four sacks in each of his first two seasons with Maryland and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors during the pandemic-impacted 20220 campaign. He followed that up with a career-best 37 tackles in 2021 before posting 26 tackles and a sack last season.

After hitting the portal in the offseason, Nasili-Kite became one of six defensive transfers for Auburn with prior Power 5 experience, including one of four up front (former Kentucky tackle Justin Rogers, former Purdue lineman Lawrence Johnson and former Vanderbilt edge rusher Elijah McAllister). While Rogers has been making himself at home as a potential first-teamer on the interior of the line this spring, Nasili-Kite has received his share of second-team reps at both tackle and end as Garrett looks to shore up an eight- or nine-player rotation for three spots along the line (not including the Jack linebacker position).

Nasili-Kite has emerged as a versatile lineman who relies on his quickness to be an effective pass-rusher — something Auburn is in dire need of heading into the season — and excel against the run. According to linebacker Wesley Steiner, Nasili-Kite is always in attack mode on the field, and it has resulted in him being a disruptor in the backfield.

“He’s an older guy who has played a lot of football, and you can see it in the tape,” McAllister said. “He plays really hard…. You see his passion showing — not only in everyday life, but when he plays. So, any time he’s rushing the quarterback and making tackles, I can feel him through the tape.”

Considering Roberts’ biggest goal for Auburn’s defense this fall is to create havoc, the Tigers hope Nasili-Kite’s presence isn’t just felt on the tape; they hope it’s felt by opposing offenses come September.

“Keep his name in your head,” defensive end Jeffrey M’ba said. “He’s special.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.