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Daniel Faalele NFL Draft Profile
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Daniel Faalele Scouting ReportFaalele demonstrates this in several ways. He puts his length to good use to walk pass rushers around the outside track and past the quarterback. He consistently displays excellent ability in this regard. Daniel also routinely locks his long arms to keep defensive linemen from getting their hands to his chest. Although not explicitly related to his length, Faalele does an excellent job of using his inside arm to feel for interior pressure while keeping his eyes focused on his target. Faalele can demonstrate an impressive anchor with his sheer lower body strength. It helps that he routinely displays a wide base, but his anchor is rooted in strength. Furthermore, he uses this strength to move people up the field or onto the floor as a run blocker. His competitive toughness is glaringly apparent. He revels in putting a man on the ground. Faalele’s strength also shows up in his hand usage. The Minnesota OT has a potent initial punch, routinely knocking defensive linemen and pass-rushing linebackers back at the point of attack with a single strike. When he gets his hand placement right, he also has an impressively firm grasp. With a hand size of 4XL, you’d be disappointed if he didn’t. |
Areas for ImprovementFaalele suffers from a common affliction with college football offensive tackles. There are examples on tape where he gets his weight over his toes, resulting in him becoming unbalanced. While he doesn’t find the floor often, he does get beaten because of it. Potentially due to his incredible size, the Minnesota OT is sometimes guilty of bending at the waist rather than the knees, which doesn’t help with the balance issue. Another drawback of his size is that he sometimes plays with a high pad level. When the low man wins in the trenches, this could pose an issue at the next level. Additionally, while he demonstrates incredible hand strength, Faalele could show more consistency with hand placement. There were multiple examples on tape where he allowed his opponent to attack his chest because his hands were placed too far outside the defender’s frame. Faalele needs to learn to keep his head on a swivel. There were examples on tape of him being caught unaware and not knowing how the play was unfolding around him. That said, these fine technical and awareness elements can be directly attributed to his relative football inexperience, and you would expect to see him develop the longer he plays the game.
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Daniel Faalele Career at MinnesotaSome of the most experienced and talented high school players spend the first year of their collegiate career on the sideline. As a result of his inexperience, that was the plan for Faalele during the 2018 season. Daniel was thrust into action as a true freshman. Having seen playing time in two games early on, he was made the starting right tackle against Ohio State. Rather than wilt in the spotlight, Faalele stood tall. He started eight games as Minnesota hit 20+ passing and rushing touchdowns for the first time in program history. The true freshman was named the team’s Outstanding Offensive Freshman and received an honorable mention for the All-Big Ten team. While the national attention was impressive, the highest praise came from within the program in the form of o-line coach Brian Callahan. “This guy is more than a novelty,” Callahan told Bleacher Report. “This is as good as I’ve been around. And, I’ve been around some good ones. But this guy could be special.” |
Daniel Faalele NFL Draft Player ProfileFor a man of Faalele’s size, the most significant question mark is inevitably around his athleticism. Even here, there are some pleasantly surprising answers. He won’t beat anyone in a foot race; let’s not get carried away. Still, he has impressive lateral agility for his size and can get quickly into pass sets. Furthermore, he shows some explosiveness at the point of attack and can also make his way out to the second level in the run game with relative smoothness. With size, strength, decent relative athleticism, competitive toughness, and some impressive technical ability, Faalele belies his relative inexperience to be an alluring 2022 NFL Draft prospect. He has starting NFL potential, and with the lack of true right tackles in this class.
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