Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State (Junior)

Rayane M

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Strengths :

Powerful, aggressive, explosive
Good athletic abilities
nasty side
Good balance
Nice handwork
Footwork
Leader

Weaknesses :

Needs to work on blocking angles
Tends to extend his arms too much
Can be overly Grabby
Block technique needs refinement

OT Taliese Fuaga

One of my favorites player to watch the last 2 seasons with the Beavers and clearly in my Top 3 OTs of this Class
Taliese moves fast, too fast, he's extremely explosive, he's big, he's strong, got that nasty side and the will to dominate DLs

1st Round Talent 💎 pic.twitter.com/Rhw4vXaklO
— Rayane M (@RayaneScout) December 29, 2023

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Taliese Fuaga ! My favorite Samoan in this draft class, regardless of position, and a vastly underrated player during his college career. However, over the past few months, he has truly emerged into the spotlight, and there are plenty of good reasons for that.

To start off, it's quite simple: Taliese is a beast! And I mean that in the best possible way. He embodies everything I personally look for in an offensive lineman. He's powerful, extremely aggressive, explosive, and he displays a strong punch on every single rep. It's been a while since I've enjoyed watching tape as much as I have with him. When he's on the field, Fuaga isn't there to play around; he's there to win and dominate, and you can feel that intensity in everything he does.

Adding to that, his impressive athletic abilities allow him to have a lightning-fast first step and the agility to quickly get to the second level of the defense. This makes him extremely dangerous on running plays, not to mention his potential on screen passes. The ground he can cover in such a short amount of time is simply astonishing for a player of his size, and his athletic prowess will undoubtedly attract many offensive coordinators looking to capitalize on his skill set.

You know, when we talk about offensive or defensive linemen who spend their time in the trenches, I often mention that some players have a nasty side side or not. And when they have it, I tell you if this is the right nasty side ou le mauvais nasty side because either can have very different consequences during a game. Well, to surprise you, Taliese clearly possesses this good side. nasty side And as I wrote earlier, he really has this desire to dominate his opponent on every play, and I love that! I especially appreciate it when I see that he's able to have that winning mentality and dominate without resorting to fouls that could cost your team. All in all, very impressive.

Another interesting point about Fuaga is that he remains stable in his playing style, rarely getting off-balance. This is a good trait considering the difficulty some offensive linemen have in maintaining balance while playing.
Thanks to this good overall balance, he has a very solid base and manages to maintain a power angle, always striving to generate a new push from his thighs if needed during the game to continue creating movement or to finish a block. It's rare enough to be impressive.

In terms of his hand technique, it's quite impressive. As mentioned in the first strong point, he has a powerful and explosive punch, and above all, he doesn't hesitate to use multiple strikes in Pass pro In the same way a boxer uses their jab to gauge distance, Taliese utilizes multiple strikes in pass protection to disrupt the distance and momentum of the Pass rusher Indeed, by forcing the opponent to make a move, Fuaga dictates the pace rather than the rusher, which is quite impressive for a player coming out of college football.

In terms of Footwork Again Taliese is on top. His feet move quickly and effectively, his foot base remains wide enough in Pass pro which gives him very good stability. However, be careful as he tends to quickly narrow his base to drive on Run block which doesn't help him maintain good block angles as we'll see in a moment.

Indeed, we're diving straight into Taliese's weaknesses, and let's address his biggest one right away, which is his block angles. When engaging in run-blocking situations, it's not uncommon to see Taliese either rush too quickly towards the defender or even completely overshoot his opponent while attempting to block him. Consequently, Taliese finds himself in a very poor position and is unable to execute a good block. The issue here is that it can sometimes lead to massive piles of players, effectively thwarting his team's offensive play.
For now, this is clearly the number one flaw I've identified in Taliese Fuaga's game and one that he'll need to work on. Honestly, I'm not even sure he realizes the speed at which he can execute, sometimes even being ahead of his running backs. That's saying something.

Taliese also needs to be careful of his tendency to reach out too much with his arms, even when it's not particularly necessary. Sometimes, he can be easily defeated when he extends his arms unnecessarily, especially when facing rushers who quickly evade his hands and then accelerate to get out of his reach. Again, he will need to work on using his arms judiciously and at the most opportune moments.

We have to say that Fuaga is amongst the player who I qualified as Grabby so he needs to improve on that and pay attention to his tendency to grab his opponent on certains reps

But even more generally, Taliese will have to work on his blocking technique, which can sometimes be anything but academic and which, I think, may cost him a few flags once he's in the pros. And when I say it's not academic, it's really an understatement. If you take it lightly like I do because it's often very funny, you'll love Fuaga, but otherwise, you might sometimes find yourself pulling your hair out wondering how much of a dumbass he can be. Just off the top of my head, I remember the game against UCLA where he, for example, clotheslined a DT in a situation of Pass pro. Another example is a play where he ended up at the same level as his own wide receiver when it was a passing play. Finally, to wrap this up, the craziest thing he did in this game, following a poorly executed block angle on a second-level defender (remember the first weakness in the article), Taliese missed his block on the linebacker and instead of letting go, he simply thought that tit for tat, might as well go all out, and decided to guillotine the linebacker. Quite a character, indeed. I can understand that for some, these kinds of things represent a real red flag, and that's why it's listed under weaknesses.

In conclusion, the only fear I have with Taliese Fuaga is the fear that this impression of dominance may ultimately be nothing but smoke and mirrors due to the relatively smaller physique that can be found in Pac-12 defenses, and that once he arrives in the NFL, we may not see what makes him such a special player. That being said, please do not let this kind of animal fall into the hands of a coach like Kyle Shanahan (49ers), Mike McDaniel (Dolphins), or even Sean McVay (Rams), because it could quickly become a headache for the next five seasons, given how effectively such a profile could be utilized.

With Taliese Fuaga, we have a player who could either become a legend of his franchise or a player who won't be in the league in five years.
Personally, I'm charmed by him. I'd go so far as to say that Taliese's biggest flaw as the draft approaches is his position. I can assure you of one thing: if he had played at this level but on the left side of the line, he wouldn't pass outside the top 10, and that's me being kind. For my part, if that were the case, I'd bet heavily that I'd have him as my top tackle in this class. Unfortunately, that's not the case, but personally, I have no problem saying that it's a big yes in the first round, even in the early part of the draft board.

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Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State (Junior)

Rayane M

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