Taliese Fuaga heads into the 2024 NFL Draft as one of the top offensive tackle prospects in his class, with the potential to be selected early on Day 1.
Let’s take a look at Fuaga’s background and how he reached this milestone moment in his football career.
Where Did Taliese Fuaga’s Football Career Start?
Fuaga got his football career off the ground at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he was a two-way standout throughout his high school career.
Fuaga was rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals as a high school prospect, and ranked as the 28th overall prospect in Washington within the class of 2020.
Fuaga was featured on both the offensive line and defensive line at Mount Tahoma, earning first-team All-League honors on offense and second-team All-League on defense as a senior after posting 40 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks.
Revisiting Fuaga’s College Career
Fuaga stayed relatively close to home for college in the Pacific Northwest as he committed to and signed with Oregon State. He saw action in four games as a true freshman in 2020, the pandemic-altered campaign, then appeared in 10 games in 2021 in a relatively small role.
Fuaga broke out in 2022 as he started all 13 games for the Beavers, helping pave the way for an offense that averaged 396 yards per game with 196.5 on the ground. He graded out at 80.8 by Pro Football Focus, including a 79.6 mark in run blocking.
Fuaga’s Potential in the NFL
Fuaga is one of several highly-regarded offensive tackle prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft class and looks poised to be selected in the first round.
Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings has Fuaga ranked as his No. 11 overall prospect and third-best offensive tackle prospect on his NFL Draft Big Board behind Notre Dame’s Joe Alt (fourth overall) and Penn State’s Olu Fashanu (ninth overall), and just ahead of Alabama’s JC Latham (20th overall).
Cummings had high praise for Fuaga in his scouting report of the standout OT.
MORE: Ian Cummings’ Full Scouting Report of Taliese Fuaga
“Fuaga’s elite power and elite explosiveness serve as high-ceiling traits, but Fuaga is much more refined and much more actionable as a Day 1 NFL starter than he gets credit for. In the run game, Fuaga maximizes his power component with sharp angle awareness, urgency, smooth hinge flexibility, and a finisher’s mentality.
“Meanwhile, as a pass protector, Fuaga has a strong foundation with his balance, leverage acquisition, and ability to stay square. He’s disciplined with his footwork, and there are bright flashes of independent hand usage, combative synergy, and precision on his tape.
“On tape, there aren’t too many glaring questions with Fuaga. His length, while exceptional, isn’t quite elite, and neither is his hip flexibility. But the biggest question will be whether or not he can switch to left tackle at the NFL level.
“My take is that, while he lacks experience, Fuaga has the coordination, balance, athleticism, and natural leverage acquisition to move to the left side if needed. At either spot, he can be a scheme-versatile impact starter with Pro Bowl and All-Pro upside.”
Highlights, Records, and More
Fuaga racked up plenty of accolades for his standout 2023 season.
He was named First-Team All-American by College Football Network, the FWAA, CBS Sports, ESPN, Pro Football Focus, and Phil Steele, while he was a Second-Team All-America selection by the Associated Press, AFCA, Walter Camp, The Sporting News, The Athletic, and USA Today.
He was also a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection and a semifinalist for both the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award.
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