The 2024 NFL Draft is here, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Taliese Fuaga.
Fuaga is one of the best OL prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft with his high-level combination of size and strength and power and athletic movement. There were times I thought he was the best OT prospect in the class with his size/strength/athleticism/nasty demeanor profile.
Let’s start with the run game. Fuaga is a powerful, competitive, take-no-prisoners menace who moved DL and second level defenders and occasionally pile drove them into the ground. Given his size and frame, the athleticism, mobility, balance and body control he exhibited as a reach blocker, cutting off the back side and climbing to the second level and pulling in pin-pull concepts, was remarkable.
He looked like a smaller man in space with light feet and easy movement. What stood out in pass protection was his balance and body control. He was rarely not balanced and in control of the rep, regardless of the pass set technique. Fuaga played with patience and control, effectively deploying the independent arm technique early in his pass set to maintain distance and keep his feet clean to any move made by the pass rusher.
The few times Fuaga struggled in pass protection resulted from late and/or wide hands, which allowed the rusher to be first with contact and get inside of him. That is correctable with coaching and development.
Overall, Fuaga is a high-level prospect who played RT at Oregon State, but he could transition to the next level at either OT position. Some might see him as an OG prospect, lacking the needed range and re-direct ability to be effective as a pass protector vs. the better NFL pass rushers.
However, I believe he can line up at OT and be a quality starter. My sense is Fuaga is somewhat scheme specific. He would profile best as a RT in a more conventional play action based system with the QB working under center as a meaningful foundation of the offense. That would mitigate against the higher percentage of vertical pass sets in which he would be an island vs. quality NFL pass rushers.
Fuaga was a two year starter at RT for Oregon State, and he earned First Team All-Pac 12 honors in 2023. He was not a high-level recruit ranked as the 130th OT prospect in the nation.
Washington game showed some potential concerns with Fuaga in pass protection at the RT position and could well lead some to believe his best transition to the NFL would be inside at guard.
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