Taliese Fuaga

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Taliese Fuaga

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| current_team = New Orleans Saints

| number = 75

| position = Offensive tackle

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2002|4|5|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Tacoma, Washington, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 324

| high_school = Mount Tahoma (Tacoma)

| college = Oregon State (2020–2023)

| draftyear = 2024

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 14

| pastteams =

New Orleans Saints ({{NFL Year|2024}}–present)

| status = Active

| highlights =

First-team All-American (2023)
First-team All-Pac-12 (2023)
Second-team All-Pac-12 (2022)

| statseason = 2024

| statweek =

| statlabel1 = Games played

| statvalue1 = 17

| statlabel2 = Games started

| statvalue2 = 17

| pfr = F/FuagTa00

}}

Taliese Fuaga (born April 5, 2002) is an American professional football offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, receiving All-American honors in 2023. Fuaga was selected by the Saints in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Early life

Fuaga attended Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Washington.{{Cite web |last=Manley |first=Jon |date=September 20, 2019 |title=The wins haven’t come, but Mount Tahoma lineman Fuaga hasn’t wavered in loyalty |url=https://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/high-school/article235187012.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=The News Tribune}} He played offensive and defensive line in high school. He was selected to play in the 2020 Polynesian Bowl.{{Cite web |last=Huffman |first=Brandon |date=June 25, 2019 |title=Polynesian Bowl announces Taliese Fuaga as selection |url=https://247sports.com/article/polynesian-bowl-announces-taliese-fuaga-as-selection-133142469/ |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=247Sports}} Fuaga committed to Oregon State University to play college football, turning down similar offers from Oregon, USC, Hawaii, and Nevada.{{Cite web |last=Slaughter |first=Brenden |date=2019-12-09 |title=BeaversEdge - BREAKING: 2020 Tacoma OT Taliese Fuaga commits to Oregon State |url=https://oregonstate.rivals.com/news/breaking-2020-tacoma-ot-taliese-fuaga-commits-to-oregon-state/printable |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Rivals.com}}{{Cite web |last=Milles |first=Todd |date=September 3, 2023 |title=Loyal and humble, Taliese Fuaga leaves Mount Tahoma High School for another rebuilding effort - Oregon State University |url=https://highschool.si.com/football/2019/12/18/loyal-and-humble-taliese-fuaga-leaves-mount-tahoma-high-school-for-another-rebuilding-effort-oregon-state-university |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025224223/https://highschool.si.com/football/2019/12/18/loyal-and-humble-taliese-fuaga-leaves-mount-tahoma-high-school-for-another-rebuilding-effort-oregon-state-university |archive-date=October 25, 2023 |website=Sports Illustrated}}

College career

Fuaga played in 14 games as a backup his first years at Oregon State in 2020 and 2021. He started all 13 games in 2022 and returned as a starter in 2023, where he was named a first-team All-American.{{Cite web |last=Daschel |first=Nick |date=October 25, 2023 |title=Will Taliese Fuaga become Oregon State’s first NFL 1st-round draft pick as an offensive lineman? |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2023/10/is-taliese-fuaga-oregon-states-first-offensive-lineman-to-become-an-nfl-first-round-draft-pick.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=OregonLive.com}}{{Cite web |date=December 17, 2023 |title=Taliese Fuaga, Tanner Miller Earn ESPN All-America Honors |url=https://oregonstate.rivals.com/news/taliese-fuaga-tanner-miller-earn-espn-all-america-honors |access-date=20 January 2024 |website=BeaversEdge.com |publisher=Rivals.com}}

Professional career

{{NFL predraft

| height ft = 6

| height in = 5 3/4

| weight = 324

| dash = 5.13

| ten split = 1.77

| twenty split = 2.98

| vertical = 32.0

| broad ft = 9

| broad in = 3

| arm span = 33 1/8

| hand span = 10 1/8

| note = All values from NFL Combine{{Cite web |url=https://www.nfl.com/prospects/taliese-fuaga/32004655-4122-9226-13fe-6b383364e74b |title=Taliese Fuaga Draft and Combine Prospect Profile |website=NFL.com |access-date=March 14, 2024}}{{Cite web |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1040237&DraftYear=2024 |title=2024 NFL Draft Scout Taliese Fuaga College Football Profile |website=DraftScout.com |access-date=March 14, 2024}}

}}

Fuaga was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round with the 14th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Charean |author-link=Charean Williams |date=2024-04-26 |title=Saints draft Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga at 14th overall |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/saints-draft-oregon-state-ot-taliese-fuaga-at-14th-overall |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}} He started in all 17 games as a rookie.{{Cite web |title=Taliese Fuaga 2024 Game Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FuagTa00/gamelog/2024/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

NFL career statistics

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |Legend

style="background:#e0cef2; width:3em;" |

|No type penalty

Bold

|Career high

= Regular season =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" \|Year ! rowspan="2" \|Team ! colspan="2" \|Games ! colspan="6" \|Offense
GP !GS !Snaps !Pct !Holding !False Start !Decl/Pen !Acpt/Pen
2024 !NO \|17 \|17 \|1,071 \|98% \|2 \|4 \|0 \|11
colspan="2" \|[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FuagTa00.htm Career] !17 !17 !1,071 !- !2 !4 !0 !11

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" |Year

! rowspan="2" |Team

! colspan="2" |Games

! colspan="6" |Offense

!GS

!Snaps

!Pct

!Holding

!False Start

!Decl/Pen

!Acpt/Pen

2024

!NO

|17

|1,071

|98%

|11

colspan="2" |[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FuagTa00.htm Career]

!17

!1,071

!11

References

External links

[https://www.neworleanssaints.com/team/players-roster/taliese-fuaga/ New Orleans Saints bio]
[https://osubeavers.com/sports/football/roster/taliese-fuaga/9767 Oregon State Beavers bio]

Category:Living people

Category:Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington

Category:American football offensive tackles

Category:All-American college football players

Category:Oregon State Beavers football players

Category:American sportspeople of Samoan descent

Category:New Orleans Saints players

Category:2002 births

Category:Pacific Islander American players of American football