Prospect Profile: Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State

Pass Protection

He starts every rep by getting off the ball with explosion; he times up the snap well and gets a head start almost always without false starting. This puts him in a good initial position on vertical, 45 and jump sets. He has efficient footwork and outrageous upper body strength that help him win consistently as a pass protector. His normal move is to use his outside hand working with independent hands, and this large paw is often enough to hold off even guys with good play strength. He is patient with his hands and consistently times his strike well. His outside hand is almost always accurate, while his inside hand is not as consistent but still effective. When he’s challenged to the outside, in most situations he has enough hip mobility and foot speed to trace the hoop, and he always has the strength to compete at the apex of the rush to help prevent the rusher from cornering. He excels at shutting down inside moves from all types of rusher. He has loose hips and good reactive athleticism, never panicking. He has an excellent anchor and will normally drop it early into the rep keeping the integrity of the pocket. There are some specific situations where he will compete but lose his fair share of battles. He can over-rely on his play strength and the outside hand he uses can be susceptible to being knocked away by defenders with good length and good hand usage with a cross chop move they can use to defeat him. In this scenario, he will compete to stop the defender finishing on his QB. He will also give ground to those same type of defenders if they use speed to power and come for his chest. In this scenario, he has to reset his feet to re-anchor and is normally able to but defenders with excellent play strength can win. He processes the game at a high level and deals with stunts and blitzes like nothing, able to pass off and pick up guys with very little fuss. He regularly goes looking for work and demonstrates his nasty, making totally unnecessary hits on defenders.

Run Blocking

He excels as a run blocker. On Gap blocks, he’s able to exert his power and control the point of attack. He has great positioning and fit on down blocks; his hand placement gets him easy wins. He will lever even bigger Defensive Linemen off the ball. On drive blocks, he is always moving his feet, including on contact and the placement and timing of his hands in fitting the block are excellent. On these blocks he shows his aggression and competitiveness. As a Zone blocker he fires off from his stance and gets upfield in a hurry looking for his guy at the second level. He positions extremely well for space blocks, he creates angles to take advantage of when blocking smaller defenders and keeps his feet moving on contact, finishing the block. When he’s play-side on Outside Zone and trying to reach a 9 technique, he won’t manage it. He gets closer to it with 7 techniques but what he will do is ride his guy significantly out of the play to create space for his back. When he’s back-side he can slow down a 3 technique but won’t get in front of those with burst and good processing. On Inside Zone when he’s trying to fan block, he can stand up too quickly and lose leverage against those with good hand usage themselves. On combo blocks, he’s excellent at overtaking blocks and times his release to the second level well.

SUMMARY
Has not yet solved the problem at OT of dealing with rushers with length advantage and good hand usage. Otherwise excellent pass protector and excellent run blocker.

PRODUCTION
JR: 699 snaps at RT
SO: 810 snaps at RT
INJURY: None

RAVENS FIT
Toughness 4
Intelligence 5
Versatility 5
Grit 5
Scheme 5