Taliese Fuaga Elite Street Fighter

I love Oregon State right tackle Taliese Fuaga.

As my dad would say (God rest his soul), “BMOC,” (big man on campus).

Fuaga is all that and a bag of chips. He’s an active, athletic, and aggressive a– kicker. He’s got these big ‘ol long arms full of brute natural strength and lightning-fast quick violent hands.

Oh yeah.

I don’t love many, but when I do, I love hard. Just the fact I am bringing my dad into this one says something. He loved to take walks where I grew up in Minnesota, and he’d ask me to go with him no matter what the weather was and while we were walking, he’d ask me to give him, The Sports Report, that’s what he called it, and I’d go on and on about football.

Allow me to now go on and on….about this 6-foot-6, 334 mass of pure power with an insatiable appetite for destruction.

Bodyguard

As they say in scouting ⎯this is the first guy you want to come off the bus.

That’s Fuaga.

In today’s pass-happy NFL, offensive tackles who can keep edge rushers off their quarterback are worth their weight in gold. According to Pro Football Focus, Fuaga has participated in 716 pass plays the past two seasons and surrendered: Zero sacks, five quarterback hits, and 18 hurries.

He’s keeping his quarterback upright.

About the elite street fighter reference, I used that reference because it isn’t always pretty how he does it, but he does it.

Draw me a picture

In pass protection (pro), he’s got a fast first step and he transfers his weight quickly sliding out initially like he’s auditioning to dance for America’s Got Talent ⎯from there he’s alert and ready for anything. I didn’t see anyone go through Fuaga and he handled pass-rush moves like it was a hobby.

The greats always make it look so easy.

Ultra-Competitive

This is one of this Oregon State tackle’s top attributes ⎯he gets after it and stays after it. You don’t have to worry about this one ‘backhanding’ his paychecks. He works hard.

The big negative in pass pro is Fuaga’s glaring tendency to stop moving his feet toward the back door (back edge) of the pocket and to start ‘opening the gate,’ meaning he got turned sideways too often in this scenario and started to lose blocking leverage, but have no fear, he compensates with tenacious effort.

It’s personal for Fuaga. Defenders aren’t touching his quarterback if he can help it.

I love that.

Football is important to this one ⎯his game film screams it. He’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Run blocking department

Brutal.

Fuaga delivered some wicked shots ⎯a man out there among boys.

He did a rock-solid job positional blocking at the line of scrimmage and he runs out in space effortlessly.

Some of the blocks he made reminded me of that scene from The Blindside when all those college coaches sat around watching Michael Oher’s ‘recruiting tape’.

#75 Taliese Fuaga 6-foot-6, 334 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s 2024 NFL Draft Grade: First-Round (I would select him)

Projected by 73.2% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of March 16, 2024 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

Oregon State Right Tackle Taliese Fuaga Stonewalls Defenders (4 games evaluated)

2023 game film reviewed: UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Washington State, San Diego State, and Utah (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Physical and tenacious pass and run blocker. Bully. Powerful man. Big square boxy stout frame. Alert and good wide base pass pro initial setup. Moves around quickly and effortlessly. Extremely fluid. Excellent flexibility. Hands cocked and ready. Showed off at times and ‘one-handed’ blocked a pass rusher. Solid controlling the shallow depths of the pocket without feet crossing over. Good pad level. Anchors. Smart football player. Easily handled “X” stunts and spin moves. Slight tendency to not account for outside blitzes when he committed inside. Wipes out defenders as a run blocker if possible. Lots of pancake blocks. Inconsistent downline and downfield. However, can get to the second level with ease. Hit and miss out in space.

Final words

Franchise right tackle.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, contributes at Yardbarker, and has written for Sports Illustrated Lions, Jets, and 49ers, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.