2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Daniel Faalele

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NAME: Daniel Faalele

POSITION: Right Tackle

SCHOOL: Minnesota

HEIGHT: 6’9”

WEIGHT: 380 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

A native of Melbourne, Australia, Daniel Faalele had a much different path to college football, compared to most NFL Draft prospects. He played sports like basketball and rugby while growing up in Australia. He had never played a game of football in his life. Yet, some college football coaches discovered Faalele while scouting in his native country. He received numerous offers to play college football before he ever played a single snap of high school football. This included offers from Michigan, Miami and LSU.

Later on, Faalele was recruited to play high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He only practiced and learned from the sideline in 2016, as he became more acclimated to the game of football. Afterwards, the blocker started on the offensive line during the 2017 season. IMG Academy achieved an undefeated season in his first year of playing competitive football. Thereafter, Faalele competed in the 2018 Under Armour All-American Game. Both ESPN and 247Sports rated him as a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Out of all of his numerous and notable offers, Faalele chose to play football at Minnesota.

While at Minnesota, Faalele started in 31 games and appeared in a total of 34 games. He did opt out of the 2020 college football season, because of the COVID pandemic. As a result, he has only four years of starting experience in the game of football, factoring in both college football and high school football. Faalele was still able to come back strong the following season. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for 2021. Finally, Faalele participated in the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Length

Compared to most offensive tackles, Faalele is able to reach the opposing pass rusher’s chest earlier in the rep than most blockers are able to. This allows him to recover if pass rushers attempt to get around him with wide angles. Because of his massive frame and length combined, opponents have a more difficult time working through the contact that he presents. Defenders are often eliminated from the play before they can even think about disengaging from the block. More importantly, Faalele does not give up first contact if he wins it early on in the rep.

Power At Point Of Attack

It is one thing to stonewall an opposing pass rusher to take them out of the play. Though, it is a totally different thing to achieve this before opponents are even completely able to fire out of their stance. Faalele impressed with how much force he was able to generate in his punches. It may not always look like he is imposing that power. But, Faalele covers ample amounts of ground quickly when displacing defenders off of their base.

Competitiveness

Overall, the intensity of Faalele has grown as he has become more acclimated to the game of football. You can quickly see that he intends to frustrate opposing defensive linemen by getting his body weight on top of them. Coaches will likely love the effort that he has shown when working in space. Whether it is with down blocks, or blocking on the backside of plays, Faalele has shown an eagerness to move people in the open field. Faalele has also grown more commanding once getting on top of defenders with his blocks. If he can topple them into the dirt, the blocker will bully them nonstop until the whistle.

Balance

In this area, it was astounding to see how much more smooth and fluid Faalele’s footwork was, given his frame. He makes softer shuffles than most offensive tackles do. As a result, Faalele is able to maintain a sturdy anchor and natural leverage at the point of attack. His feet are also swift when needing to make readjustments. Faalele is not as much of a leaner as one may expect with his mass. To boot, the Minnesota product does a good job to sustain a solid base. He does not get on his toes too often, and rarely has his upper body collapse or topple his own feet into the ground.

Lateral Mobility

Faalele overwhelmed many defensive linemen early on during certain reps. In terms of run blocking, he was able to shift and turn opponents parallel to the sideline. This opened many running lanes for his ball carriers. Furthermore, it made for an easier read for those running backs in space. Faalele won many reps by swallowing up gaps, crossing face on blocks and also used the opponents’ leverage against themselves on occasion. That is major for this blocker, because of his overall inexperience in the game of football. Lastly, Faalele displayed urgency in redirecting defenders, if they attempted to attack with quickness.

Hand Technique

Faalele has sticky, powerful hands that are difficult to displace. He will still need more refinement when it comes to hand placement and timing of punches. That may not be too surprising at this stage of his game. Specifically, Faalele has had trouble with leaving his hands too low in the center of his frame. That is something that can be improved upon with coaching. Nevertheless, if Faalele is able to latch and hold on to blocks, it takes defenders just so long to recover or slip away.

Pass Sets

The biggest area of improvement comes with vertical pass sets. Mainly, Faalele can be hit or miss when it comes to staying square to the opposing pass rusher. The same can be said if defensive linemen are working towards his inside shoulder, forcing him to shift down towards the interior of the offensive line. There is also a worry of consistent timing from Faalele. Can he routinely get in and out of sets instantly at the snap at the next level?

Football IQ

Obviously, Faalele is still very young and inexperienced in the game of football. He could stand to finish blocks more consistently. More reps and polish could certainly help with that. Meanwhile, Faalele has not completely grasped new tricks or nuances within his technique when facing pass rushers that apply more speed, compared to more power. Despite all of that, this blocker has already achieved and learned so much in a small sample size.

CHIEFS FIT

The Kansas City Chiefs amazingly rebuilt their offensive line in one offseason. The interior of Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith are cornerstones for the next handful of seasons. Orlando Brown Jr. is expected to return in some way, shape or form as well. What a finish he had to his first campaign with Kansas City. There is one spot that could use a new infusion, however. That would be at right tackle.

Names like Lucas Niang, Mike Remmers and Andrew Wylie have all received reps at that spot recently. There have been some good moments. Even still, the bad moments seem to outweigh the good ones. Niang opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns. In his first season in a Chiefs uniform, he dealt with an up and down performance and numerous injuries. He already has a lengthy injury history. Remmers was banged up last year as well. Wylie did admirable in 2021 but has had his hiccups against pass rushers who win with speed.

Securing that spot with a mammoth sized blocker could help the Chiefs in many ways. Patrick Mahomes can start to feel more comfortable again when escaping the pocket to his right. That is especially true, given how lethal he is when doing that. The running game could also see more consistent results when going in between the tackles. Faalele proved he can cross the opponent’s face and steer them off their path when run blocking. And if Brown Jr. is back as expected, Kansas City would boast two of the largest offensive tackles in the entire NFL.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this winter and spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.