The 2022 NFL Draft will be a great event for teams to start building for their future. Here is the Daniel Faalele 2022 NFL Draft Profile.
Position: Offensive Tackle
Size: 6-foot-9, 380 pounds
Class: Senior
2021 stats: All-Big Ten First Team
Faalele hasn’t been playing football for a long time, but has picked it up quickly. He is now one of the better tackles in the 2022 NFL Draft.
After playing one season of high school football, Faalele was a four-star recruit who signed with P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. He broke into the starting lineup a few games into his freshman season. The Golden Gophers went 7-6 in Faalele’s freshman season. During the 2019 season, he started 11 games at right tackle and was an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Minnesota had their best season in modern history with an 11-2 record and a win in the Outback Bowl. Faalele opted out of the 2020 season, but returned in 2021 and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team by the coaches. The Golden Gophers had another successful season, winning nine games, including the Guaranteed Rate Bowl to end the season.
Following his three seasons on the field for Minnesota, Faalele is headed to the NFL. He is currently projected to be a second to third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Faalele is the biggest player in this draft class. He is a giant, standing at 6-foot-9 and 380 pounds, which clearly gives him the size advantage over anyone he would be going up against. With his height and weight, he also has tremendous length. If he can get his hands on a defender, the length makes it very tough for them to shed his blocks.
With his size comes tremendous strength. Faalele can control a matchup with tremendous grip strength as a blocker. He uses this power well in the run game to clear big holes and he can anchor well as a pass blocker. Faalele won’t have issues blocking power rushers on the perimeter.
His run blocking is much more advanced than his pass blocking at this point in his career. He can move his defender way out of the way in one on one situations. His power comes into play to help him create holes. Faalele doesn’t have the best mobility, but he is able to get good momentum for the second level to make blocks.
Faalele needs to continue to work on his pass blocking. He has limited lateral mobility, so speedy and bendy edge rushers can give him problems. This problem may worsen as he goes up against NFL-level athletes as pass rushers. He played right tackle in college and will continue to do that in the NFL, as he shouldn’t be tasked with protecting a quarterback’s blindside.
He is still relatively new to the game and that shows up on film. Faalele could have better hand placement and timing to help improve his game. He also has been late to pick up on where blitzers are coming from and identifying stunts and twists. There will be a lot of learning for Faalele to do at the next level.
His movements can be somewhat mechanical. This goes for his pass sets and just in general. Faalele will have to loosen up and trying to play with some more aggression could help with that. Finishing plays through the whistle and not just going through the motions will help him take a big step forward.
Projected Draft Range: Second Round Pick-Third Round Pick
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