Taliese Fuaga established himself as one of the top offensive tackles in college football during the past season and the New Orleans Saints used their first-round pick (No. 17) to select the former Oregon State Beavers’ star right tackle in the draft.
Fuaga already has a huge fan in former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Kelce, who announced his retirement in March, didn’t need to watch much video of Fuaga to decide the Saints made the right choice.
“There’s guys that even when they’re playing the highlights on draft day, you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah,’” Kelce said on his and brother Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. “There was one tackle that got picked early out of Oregon State. I saw like one pass set, I’m like, ‘Yep. Oh yeah.’ ”
Fuaga was the fourth offensive linemen to be selected in the draft and he’s likely to replace veteran Ryan Ramczyk at right tackle. Ramczyk experienced lingering knee problems that forced him to miss the final four games of the 2023 season. Ramczyk’s knee reportedly is not recovering as quickly as expected following an offseason procedure and he could miss the entire 2024 season.
If Fuaga is thrust into the starting spot at right tackle, Kelce seems to believe the rookie has the physical traits, skillset and fundamentals to take advantage of the opportunity after watching more video.
“And then I saw him just completely demoralizing people after that. I’m like this dude is a beast,” Kelce said. “Taliese Fuaga … Do you see like the balance, they way his hips open up?”
