Impact Statement: Washington Adds Defender to Class of 2021
It had been a while since Washington has dipped into suburban Renton High School for a player before snagging the commitment from 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman Siaosi Finau.
Part of the reason is that RHS is a 2-A school that has struggled to win on a consistent basis in recent years. That left many to call Finau an unsung prospect. However, after looking at his highlights, it's easy to see what the Huskies like about him.
"The one thing that jumps off of Siaosi Finau's 2019 season highlights is that he has a mean streak," said Trevor Mueller, high-school recruiting analyst for Husky Maven/Sports Illustrated. "Some will call him under the radar, but part of that is his Renton High School team went 5-5 last season. It's certainly not an indictment of his talent."
Mueller noted that film is limited on Finau because teams didn't run at the run-stuffer. He said this was due in part to the angles Finau takes as he continues to pursue plays.
"Teams run away from Finau — a lot," Mueller said. "But he understands that and he understands where a play is headed when it's being run away from him. He takes direct angles through lanes of traffic to get after the ball carrier."
As the spots on Washington's future edefensive front begin to close, the Huskies are still pursuing commitments from a couple of in-state defensive talents in Tumwater's Jacob Schuster and Eastside Catholic's J.T. Tuimoloau.
Headliners such as Tuimoloau, Steilacoom's Emeka Egbuka and Kennedy Catholic's Sam Huard have raised the profile of high school football in the state of Washington where other so-called "blue blood" college programs are attempting to steal players from UW's backyard.
Case in point, since the Huskies offered Schuster earlier this year, his offer sheet has ballooned to 20. Knowing this, the Huskies appear to have kept a low profile with Finau in offering him and receiving the commitment on the same day.
Finau is the third defensive-tackle commit, the seventh defender to commit and the 11th overall commit for the Huskies' 2021 class.
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