Taliese Fuaga 2024 NFL Draft Profile: Size, Quicks, Excelling In Both Phases

How high could he get drafted?

The tackle class in the 2024 NFL Draft looks loaded. Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, and Alabama’s J.C. Latham are the current headliners. Georgia’s Amarius Mims has hype. Duke’s Graham Barton has been in first-round mocks, as has Houston’s Patrick Paul and Arizona’s Jordan Morgan.

The Pac 12 gets the least attention on a national scale, so it took some time, but Oregon State tackle Taliese Fuaga is finally getting noticed, and he deserves the attention.

Fuaga (6’6”, 334 pounds) redshirted as a freshman in 2020 out of Mount Tahoma high school, and had just 55 snaps at right tackle in 2021. As of the start of week 7 in 2023, Fuaga has racked up 1,181 snaps at right tackle for the Beavers.

The numbers look very impressive for Fuaga. In 337 opportunities in 2022, Fuaga allowed just 11 pressures and no sacks. So far in 2023, he’s allowed three pressures and no sacks, and just one in three Pac 12 games.

When it comes to the film, Fuaga has an excellent skill set.

In the run game, he fires off the ball with great linear explosiveness. That explosiveness allows him to be highly successful as a reach blocker in zone running schemes (100 to 46 zone to gap blocking snaps in ‘23), and he can set the seal block on the front side and back side, opening up big gaps in the running game. He takes great angles to the second level to take linebackers out of play, and because he still plays under control with that functional athleticism, he hits his landmarks well on a consistent basis. Because of his explosiveness out of his stance and his size, he generates immense power at contact, uprooting defensive linemen at the source. Fuaga generates several pancakes a game with his devastating strikes and physical demeanor.

In pass protection, he’s quick out of his stance and light on his feet, giving him the capacity to change direction and mirror rushers with ease. Fuaga stays very square when he sets and throughout his reps. There are instances where Fuaga gains early leverage, stops the rush in its tracks, and he helps create a massive pocket for the quarterback to operate. Fuaga has the power to snatch in pass pro as well. When he doesn’t acquire early leverage in the contact phase, Fuaga fights well with his hands to regain leverage. He’s got great awareness of the rush, and his athletic capabilities allow for recovery to help others in pass pro.

It’s hard to poke holes in Fuaga’s game, but his arm length will be an interesting measurement should he declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. He can combat length well with quicks, a strong base, great balance, and the aforementioned penchant to fight for leverage, but the NFL is a different animal. Perhaps he makes the transition to guard, but he’s got what it takes to handle tackle duties.

It’s time that Taliese Fuaga gets national attention for the NFL Draft, and it’ll be exciting to watch him continue to battle and succeed in the Pac 12. As of his stock right now, he’s playing as well as any of the top tackles that are near the top of early rankings. He should be in first-round mocks right now.