Taliese Fuaga - Oregon State

Position: Offensive Lineman

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 324 lbs.

Year: Junior

Hometown: Tacoma, WA

Experience: 2-Year Starter

Measurables: 

40yd dash: 5.13s

Broad jump: 9’3”

Vertical: 32”

3-cone: DNP

20yd. Shuttle: DNP

Bench Press: DNP

Career Notes:

Fuaga’s true freshman season was the Fall of 2020, during which he played in four games. He didn’t have much exposure on the field and didn’t make a huge splash. The three-star prospect would have to wait and learn in order to earn playing time. Due to redshirt rules (and the extended eligibility for players who played through the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic), Fuaga was able to qualify as a freshman for his second year in 2021. 

During his second freshman season in 2021, Fuaga saw much more playing time, making his way onto the field for 10 games. While he hadn’t earned consistent snaps or a starting spot, Fuaga made the most of his time away from the field, making the Pac-12 Honor Roll. 

Fuaga exploded during third year in 2022, starting all 13 of Oregon State’s games, an All-Pac 12 Second Team nod, and an All-America Honorable Mention from Pro Football Focus. What stood out to people in this season was his sheer size and power, as well as the control that he could play with while delivering such powerful blows.

In 2023, Fuaga has been the cornerstone of Oregon State’s offensive line, clearing the running lanes as their starting right tackle. He started in all twelve of Oregon State’s regular season games. The Beavers loved throwing him out in space to clear the field for sweep runs. Fuaga also brought a new level of technical prowess and a new level of power to every run play and every single passing snap. He was All-Pac 12 First Team and earned an All-America Second Team nod from the Associated Press.

Injury Report: 

Fuaga did not suffer any notable injuries and never missed a game due to injury.

Career Stats: 

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/taliese-fuaga-1.html

Analysis: 

Run Blocking 4.15/5.0: As a run blocker, no one in this year’s draft showed the ferociousness, meanness, and power that Fuaga put on display every single game. He played through the whistle and seemed to feed off the energy of knocking defenders off of their feet. Once every 10-20 plays, Oregon State would have a mismatch in blocking responsibilities that seemed not to be communicated amongst the linemen. On these plays, Fuaga would regularly dispose of two defenders, one at the defensive line and the next at the linebacker level. He did this against the likes of Utah, UCLA, and Washington. Standing at 6’6”, he would still come off of the snap lower than defenders who were often 2”-3” shorter than him. His low leverage made defending the run a nightmare for every defender who crossed his path. The dude was a load, and he was at his scariest pulling on sweep plays or outside zones to clear running lanes down the field. (God help every defensive back who he put his hands on.) His hand placement was consistent enough to allow him to move defensive linemen of all sizes and skillsets, but he still has room to grow in hand usage. He also could have improved as a backside run blocker on zone plays when his responsibility was to wall off defenders. Occasionally, a quicker edge player would get around him and chase the ballcarrier to the opposite side of the field.

Pass Protection 3.75/5.0: Fuaga’s ability to block in the pass with the same tenacity and ferocity as he did in the run was so impressive, it was almost confusing. Like … how does a guy have the force and forward momentum to be a blunt force object while sliding backwards? As a pass blocker, Fuaga was a riddle that few defenders had an answer for. He was quick to get in position at the moment of the snap, and even employed the Jawaan Taylor special: the perfect kick-slide timing as the ball was snapped. Fuaga was vulnerable to speed rushers, but he was always able to get a hand on them. With his power, a single hand was enough to downgrade potential sacks just to hurries, but he did give up a handful of hurries in each game against UCLA, Washington, and Oregon. Washington’s pass rushers mixed in a few bull rushes, which Oregon’s Jordan Burch also applied once with some success. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Fuaga was vulnerable to the bull rush in general, but he must have been acutely aware that few guys could stack up to him in strength and often anticipated the speed rush. For the pass rushers with pro-level speed and power (e.g. Bralen Trice, Brandon Dorlus), Fuaga held up well, but left some room for improvement.

Agility 3.0/5.0: Agility wasn’t his calling card, but improved quickness in 2023 did open up Fuaga’s game a lot. His feet were always chopping, and he always kept a balanced base. He was able to get to his spots with plenty of time for runners to read where running lanes would be open. In the pass, he never had to over-extend where he would set up to block post-snap. Because of this quickness, he was never vulnerable to inside moves and he could always handle stunts. He didn’t have the top-end quickness to always cut off speed rushers trying to get around him, but he consistently reacted quickly in these situations and recovered well to buy his quarterback more time and space.

Summary: While not the top offensive linemen in this draft, Fuaga is my personal favorite because the guy is just fun to watch. He has a power and tenacity that isn’t guaranteed at the top of the draft where athletic technicians dominate on the offensive line. Don’t let his mean-spirited and nasty physicality fool you though, Fuaga is every bit a technician and athlete as he is a mauler on the offensive line. He’s got some work to do (mostly in his hand usage, as that’s where most defenders took advantage of him), but this guy showed himself to be a very exciting a mix of well-rounded, powerful, and quick. He also showed that he could improve athleticism from year-to-year, as his strength, quickness, and endurance all improved noticeably from 2022 to 2023. In the right situation, this guy is going to be not only a starter, but a problem in the NFL for a long time to come.

Overall Grade 3.63/5.0

If drafted by the Packers:

This is what I see when I go to sleep each night: Roger Goodell reading Taliese Fuaga’s name on April 25th as the Green Bay Packers hat crests on his head. This is my happy place, my rock in a stormy night, my saving grace. Packers fans might be wondering, “We have two young starting tackles who have been stout and strong since week 9 in Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom. Why would we give up a first round pick to complicate the tackle position in 2024?” I see him fitting in as the perfect piece at the right guard spot. Fuaga and Jenkins would absolutely wreak havoc on the interior line for years to come. 

As an interior lineman, Fuaga would shine from day one with any team in football. With the Packers, who seem to be just one guard away from an iron wall, Fuaga would be a machine that manufactures blooper reels for defensive linemen. Besides his physicality, he also shows an acute understanding of play designs, blocking responsibilities, timing—all while having disciplined eyes that are always scanning for the next defender. He won’t last until the second round, so if Green Bay wants him, they’d have to push their chips to the middle of the table in the first round. And Fuaga isn’t a gamble. He’s an investment as solid as Coca-Cola. 

I will add a caveat of a couple of teams who would really scare me if they drafted Fuaga: Philadelphia and Detroit. (His size measurements are almost identical to Philly legend, Jason Peters, after all.) Philly and Detroit have track records of drafting uber-talented linemen and making the most of them. Both love having hulking tackles to bookend their lines. While I see Fuaga as a guard, I don’t want to dismiss out-of-hand the possibility that he ends up at tackle in the right situation. Philly or Detroit could each be the situation where he ends up out on the edge. With all of this in mind, I implore Brian Gutenkunst: take Fuaga in the first, move him to guard, and finish the offensive line project that is so close to an A-plus.

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