Daniel Faalele

RSteve · Apr 22, 2021

Prior to the pandemic the U of MN football team had probably the largest agile man ever to play American football. Daniel Faalele is 6' 9" and was 400 lbs. as a college sophomore. Faalele is an Australian rugby player. For a man his size, he's quick on his feet. When he came to UMN, there was a real buzz on how long before he turned professional. In early mock NFL drafts, he was a low 1st round or high second round pick. Today, I don't see his name anywhere in any round of the draft.

RSteve · Jun 20, 2021

Apparently, Faalele has dropped his weight to 375 lbs and intends on playing more college football.

Niblick · Jun 22, 2021

I will keep an eye out for him in this years season. From what I read it sounds like that he would not have gone in the first round and Lord knows living in Alabama Nick Saben tells his players its not worth it financially to enter the draft early without going in the first round. One more year will move him up as long as he progresses.

RSteve · Jun 24, 2021

Niblick said:
I will keep an eye out for him in this years season. From what I read it sounds like that he would not have gone in the first round and Lord knows living in Alabama Nick Saben tells his players its not worth it financially to enter the draft early without going in the first round. One more year will move him up as long as he progresses.

Exactly. I spoke to a friend's son who works at the Vikings practice facility. Faalele is on the Vikings radar because of the team's problems with the offensive line. They wanted to sign him as a free agent and train him for a year on the taxi/practice squad. Faalele was advised by someone (he has no official agent) to opt out of last season's college football, go home to Australia, drop some weight, then come back to MN for another year of college football, with the hope of becoming a high 1st round pick in the next draft. Pre-pandemic I saw him play in a non-conference game. The Gophers' opponent was more "patsy" than legitimate competitor and Faalele dominated by his sheer size.

Niblick · Jun 24, 2021

Have you heard anything about them moving him to left tackle for this upcoming season? I also just checked out the teams schedule and noted that the opener is against the Buckeyes. This will be one to watch for sure with the gophers senior quarterback and playing at home.