Multiple Bruins Placed on 2025 Major Watch List

QB Nico Iamaleava, WR Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, DLs Siale Taupaki and Keanu Williams all made the list for 2025.

Jul 24, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

On Thursday morning, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame released their 2025 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List, one that should make head coach DeShaun Foster very proud.

Four UCLA student-athletes made their way onto the Watch List: quarterback Nico Iamaleava, wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, and defensive linemen Siale Taupaki and Keanu Williams.

This prestigious award honors and recognizes one player of Polynesian background, and is based not only on your talent and work ethic on the field, but off of it as well. This will be the 12th year that the award has been annually presented, since its inception in 2014.

This year, there's a whopping 81 players from 40 different collegiate programs on the official Watch List, all gunning for that top spot. Most notably, former UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu was named the award recipient in 2023, after a stellar final season for the Bruins that led to him being drafted in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts.

Let's meet the Bruins.

Iamaleava has also been a finalist for the award after last season in Tennessee, when he completed 213-of-334 passes (63.8%) for 2,616 yards (201.2 yards per game) and nine touchdowns with five interceptions.

In his redshirt junior season in 2024, Mokiao-Atimalala appeared in a total of nine games for Foster and the Bruins, which included seven starts. His best game came at the rivalry matchup against the USC Trojans, where he notched a season-best six grabs for 49 yards. He finished last year with 28 catches for 294 receiving yards and 1 score.

Nov 30, 2024; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala runs upfield after catching a short pass from UCLA Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers (4) during the section quarter against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

As for Taupaki, this is now the second time that he ended up on the Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List, with the first being in his redshirt freshman season in 2023. He'll look to be an anchor on the defensive line for UCLA. After making a switch from O-Line 2 seasons ago, Taupaki played in all 12 games and had 23 tackles and a sack.

After an injury that cut his 2024 campaign short, Williams returns to UCLA's front 4, hoping to be a wrecking ball alongside Tuapaki. He has totaled 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks over 26 games across his time at Oregon (2021-2022) and UCLA (2023-2024).

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