Inside The Huskies

Four-Star OL Paki Finau Commits to Washington

The Huskies earned their first blue chip commitment for the class of 2024
Roman Tomashoff|
Four-Star OL Paki Finau Commits to Washington
Four-Star OL Paki Finau Commits to Washington

In this story:

Washington Huskies

Kalen DeBoer's Washington football staff has earned its third commitment for the class of 2024 and it comes from one of the top players on their board, four-star offensive lineman Paki Finau from Oak Hills High School in Hesperia, California.

Finau is currently ranked as the 216th overall player in the class of 2024 and as the No. 11 interior offensive lineman by 247 Sports. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, his high school tape shows why offensive-line coach Scott Huff made sure he could lock in a commitment from him as soon as possible.

While he's listed as an interior lineman, he has the skills needed to play tackle or guard at the next level and could end up being used as a swing tackle, similar to how center Matteo Mele was deployed early in his career. 

Finau is very athletic for his size and loves to get out in space as a lead blocker. He's violent in his block finishing, and while he has a lot of room to put on weight, he possesses a ton of natural power. 

He also displays excellent feet as a pass blocker and, while he still has a lot of room for development on that front, Huff has shown that he is excellent at developing pass blockers. He'll also fit offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's scheme very well and could be utilized as a lead blocker on screen plays and in the run game.

Finau's edit contains the phrase "California Gold Rush," which seems to confirm that the coaching staff is pushing very hard in the Golden State to lock down the majority of the class. If the Huskies want to improve on last year's ranked class in 2023, they're going to need to continue to have success with prospects of Finau's caliber.

It also appears that Finau was one of the top prospects on the coaching staff's board and getting him to commit before June looks like a huge win for Washington. He chose the Huskies out of his 26 suitors, including Auburn, Penn State, Miami, and others.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Roman Tomashoff of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @rtomashoff34 or @UWFanNation

Have a question? Message me on Twitter!

Published
Roman Tomashoff
ROMAN TOMASHOFF

I've followed the Huskies for my entire life, and to be in a position where I get to cover them full-time is nothing short of an honor. After graduating from Lasell University in 2019, I moved to Seattle to pursue my dream of working in sports media. While writing for the Husky Haul, I also covered local sports for the Everett Daily Herald before the COVID-19 pandemic. After being hired by Realdawg.com in February of 2021, I also transitioned into doing a lot of entertainment writing, as I work on a variety of magazines as a contributing writer for Centennial Media, and have also contributed to Emmy Magazine, as well as Walt Disney Television Studios. 

Share on XFollow RTomashoff34
Home/Football