The New York Jets recently signed former West Virginia nose tackle Fatorma Mulbah as an undrafted free agent. Today we break Mulbah down in detail.
The 22-year old Mulbah is listed at 6’4” and 306 pounds. He racked up 75 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks over the past two seasons after transferring from Penn State.
Background
Mulbah came to the US when he was 12 after his family won a visa lottery, enabling them to escape an ongoing Ebola outbreak in their home nation of Liberia. He soon took up football (in addition to basketball and wrestling) and was a three-star high school recruit.
Initially, Mulbah went to Penn State but he didn’t get to play much. After redshirting the 2020 season, he had four tackles in six games in 2021. Then in 2022, he played in 13 games, but mostly just on special teams as he didn’t record any statistics.
Having opted to transfer, Mulbah headed to West Virginia and came off the bench for them as he recorded 25 tackles, three tackles for loss and a half sack in 13 games. He earned his first career start in the team’s bowl game.
In 2024, he won a starting role and eventually started all 13 games. He racked up 50 tackles, which was fifth in the nation for all defensive tackles and second among Power Five schools. That was headlined by a 13-tackle performance against Cincinnati; an almost unheard-of level of production from a nose tackle.
In addition to the 50 tackles, Mulbah was also credited with five tackles for loss including one sack.
Having not been invited to the NFL scouting combine or the Senior Bowl, Mulbah participated in the Hula Bowl instead. He was not widely expected to be selected in April.
After Mulbah went undrafted, the Jets signed him to an undrafted free agency deal with $100K guaranteed.
Let’s move on to some more in-depth analysis of what Mulbah brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Mulbah was just 270 pounds coming out of high school, but he was listed at 315 pounds by his senior year. He weighed in at 309 at his pro day, where his workout numbers were solid.
He ran a 5.07 in the 40-yard dash and managed 28 bench press reps with solid agility numbers for his size and good explosiveness numbers.
Mulbah can also squat just under 600 pounds.
Usage
Mulbah saw action on the interior in both four and three-man fronts during his career. Penn State mostly had four-man fronts but West Virginia played a lot of 3-4, so he had a lot more work at the nose tackle position over the last few years.
Motor
Although he can sometimes show signs of fatigue late in games, Mulbah battles hard in the trenches and will work hard in pursuit.
Until last year, he had never played more than 25 snaps in a game. However, he showed he was capable of handling a starter’s workload by playing 45 or more snaps six times in 2024.
Pass rush
Mulbah didn’t have much pass rush productivity in his college career with just 1.5 sacks and a low pressure rate. However, there may be some untapped potential there because he had 12 sacks in his senior year at high school.
This was the only full sack of his college career and it was indicative of his usual style and role, as he worked upfield and sought to shed his blocker cleanly.
A lot of the time, he was double-teamed and simply ended up occupying blockers. West Virginia did also run some stunts for him to go outside and he did break through a double team from time to time.
On this play he shows good change of direction and explosiveness to burst into the backfield, even though it’s unclear whether it was by design or a reaction.
Run defense
Mulbah had to take on legitimate double teams at a higher than usual rate by virtue of lining up over the center as often as he did. Despite this he generated a lot of statistical production against the run.
He combines good strength at the point of attack, technique and discipline to make these contributions, which placed him fifth in the nation for run stops in 2024.
In addition to his abilities in the trenches, Mulbah gives a lot of effort and hustles to the ball in pursuit and when cleaning up.
Technique
Mulbah plays with a strong base and keeps his pad level low at the point of impact to minimize how often he is driven off his spot. He clearly has good upper body strength, enabling him to penetrate without having to shoot gaps.
On this play, the center tries to seal Mulbah off, but he keeps his hands and feet active and his arms extended so he’s able to work across his face and get to the ball carrier.
Special teams
Mulbah hasn’t had any production on special teams, although he has had experience of rushing kicks and punts. He also spent one season as a blocker on the placekicking unit at Penn State.
Tackling
As already noted, Mulbah’s statistical productivity was impressive in college, with his coaches praising the consistency of his effort to rally to the ball and his discipline to ensure he would be in the right gap. He has a good knack for getting off his block at the right moment to be able to wrap up the ball carrier.
Missed tackles weren’t an issue for him either, as he only had three in his career. This one did lead to a touchdown though.
Coverage
Mulbah never dropped into coverage, batted down a pass or was directly targeted during his college career, although he was caught up on this trick play and unable to prevent the touchdown.
He did hustle back to get in on the tackle on a few short passes.
Instincts/Intelligence
As noted, Mulbah’s coaches praised his gap discipline. However, there were times where he would shoot into the backfield, enabling a blocker to use his momentum to take him out of the play. He also misread a few read option plays or lost sight of the ball while battling in the trenches at times.
Mulbah came away from college with two degrees and was on the Academic all-Big 10 team twice and the Academic all Big 12 team once. He was also on the Big 12 Commissioner’s honor roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.
He never jumped offside or into the neutral zone in his college career.
Attitude/Demeanor
Mulbah is a personable character who is a hard worker and was a two-time high school captain. He has an unselfish team-first attitude and isn’t afraid to do the dirty work in the trenches.
His only penalty of his entire college career was for roughing the passer last season and this wasn’t a late or dirty hit, just incidental contact to the head.
Injuries
Mulbah doesn’t seem to have been affected by injuries so far in his career. He played in 39 of 39 games over the past three seasons.
Scheme Fit
Mulbah’s transfer from Penn State to West Virginia was a good idea because he was obviously a better fit as a pure nose tackle than a 3-technique 4-3 defensive tackle.
We haven’t had our first look at Steve Wilks’ defense yet, but it is likely to be a lot of four-man fronts, although NFL teams are more likely to have unbalanced fronts that allow one of the interior lineman to line up over the center, so there could still be certain alignments that are suited to him.
In many respects, a player like Mulbah, who is never going to be a star, could be a better complement to a player like Quinnen Williams than a highly-paid disruptor like Javon Kinlaw on early downs. Put someone alongside Williams who will stick to his role and clean up after he creates havoc and you might be better off than having two disruptive players trying to make things happen in the backfield and leaving gaps in behind them when they get in one another’s way.
Mulbah was a teammate of current Jets left tackle Olu Fashanu at Penn State for three seasons.
Conclusions
The Jets added to their defensive tackle depth with three veterans on one-year minimum salary deals in the offseason, so if a player like Mulbah can’t make the roster this year, there could still be a good chance to stick around on the practice squad with the opportunity to show that he’s worthy of a chance to compete for a role next season.
His high statistical production and ability to hold up against double team blocks are impressive, in some way reminiscent of Damon Harrison’s body of work when he made the roster as an undrafted free agent some 13 years ago.
Mulbah isn’t as big as Harrison, so doesn’t necessarily need to develop into the same kind of space stuffing nose tackle. However, if he progresses well, he could be a good option on running downs in the years ahead.