NFL teams will dig into every aspect of prospects’ lives as they prepare for the draft.
When teams look at Oregon State offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga, they won’t have any questions about his loyalty.
In an era where players in high school and college often transfer to perceived better situations, Fuaga stuck it out. He went to Mount Tahoma High School (Wash.), which won just five games in his four years there and just two in his final three seasons.
As one of the top players in the area, Fuaga could have left and gone to a school with a winning football program. But he stayed.
“All my siblings went here,” Fuaga told the Tacoma News-Tribune in 2019. “It’s like a home for me. The losing, it’s difficult to overcome. I come from a school that doesn’t win a lot, but I’m trying to change that.”
In 2020, Fuaga went from Mount Tahoma to Oregon State, a school that had not had a winning season since 2013. Fuaga developed into a second-team All-American and had chances to transfer to bigger programs. He stayed and the Beavers had winning seasons in his final three years there and went to a bowl game in each of them.
“He’s a very intelligent, bright young man,” former Oregon State offensive line coach Jim Michalzik said. “He just kind of grew in every facet in life. His understanding of the game of football, he studied it and embraced the challenge of learning the game, all of the details and the intricacies. I have nothing but positive things to say about him.”
Fuaga has built himself into a certain first-round pick and potential top-10 pick in this year’s draft.
At 6-foot-6 and and 324 pounds, Fuaga has a huge frame and can move. There is some disagreement whether he is a tackle [he started at right tackle at Oregon State] or a guard, but he is a Day 1 starter for someone.
“Fuaga is a really, really clean player for me,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “He has played on the right side. I don’t see really why you would want to move him. I think he is plug-and-play as a right tackle. He could play guard if you needed him to, but just really consistent. Quick feet. Really explosive and dynamic when he gets into guys. He has some nasty to him. Plays with good temperament.
“That to me is like the plug-and-play. He has a home at right tackle, and off you go. I have him as the second lineman on my list.”
Michalzik, who is now the offensive line coach at Michigan State, said Fuaga blows people off the ball.
“He’s quick. For how big he is, how well he moves, how athletic he is for his size,” Michalzik said. “He has uncommon power. He can move people. He can snap his hips and make guys fly.”
Fuaga is a potential target for the Jets at No. 10. If he gets past the Jets, he is likely to be taken sometime before pick No. 20.
Michalzik said he believes Fuaga — voted the top tackle on the National team at this year’s Senior Bowl — can play anywhere along the offensive line.
He added that Fuaga is not a very vocal guy but that did not stop his teammates from selecting him as a captain last season for the Beavers.
“He’s a quiet guy,” Michalzik said. “He gets along with everybody but he’s quiet. The team voted him as a captain last year. It kind of surprised me because he is quiet, but he was an awesome captain. When he spoke, people listened. He wasn’t a guy who was loud and talked a lot, but when he spoke, everyone listened. He’s a guy that everybody respected I think because of his work ethic.”
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