Seahawks Draft Profile: Daniel Faalele
With the 2022 NFL Draft set to kick off in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 28, the Seahawks will have a chance to kickstart a new era for the franchise with eight selections, including a top-10 pick and four picks total in the first three rounds.
Over the next month leading up to draft weekend, the AllSeahawks writing staff will dish out in-depth profiles on numerous prospects who could be targets on Seattle's big board.
Next up in the series, Seattle's need at both offensive tackle spots is dire. Minnesota's Daniel Faalele is, quite literally, a big prospect at tackle. Could he hold down the right tackle spot for the present and future in the Pacific Northwest?
Background
The Seahawks love a good background story and Faalele's is certainly noteworthy. The former Minnesota product hails from Australia, just like Seahawks punter Michael Dickson. The Melbourne native opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. But before that, he made 19 starts at right tackle for the Golden Gophers. Upon his return to the team last season, he once again started at right tackle for 12 of the team's 13 games and helped Minnesota to a 9-4 record. He even ran the ball for a touchdown against West Virginia, with Minnesota taking advantage of his rugby background.
Strengths
To say Faalele is big is an understatement. For context: Seattle's two starting tackles last year in Duane Brown and Brandon Shell were 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds and 6-foot-5 and 324 pounds, respectively.
Faalele checks in a 6-foot-8, 387 pounds.
In fact, he is so big, some view it as a negative. However, with that immense size comes excellent reach, forcing defenders to seemingly orbit the planet in order to get around him. Plus, he has an immovable anchor. Even the biggest defensive linemen will have a difficult time powering through him. For his size, he moves well and has good lateral quickness.
Faalele doesn't just use his sheer mass to win blocks; he has good hand power as well. He shows that toughness and grit you would expect from an ex-rugby player.
Weaknesses
Given he is from Australia, his American football background is limited. At times, his lack of a deep understanding of the game has shown up. However, his combination of athleticism and size makes up for most deficiencies in high football IQ.
Defensive coaches will try to scheme around Faalele, pitting him against their most speedy EDGE players. That is basically the only way to the quarterback against Faalele—speed and agility.
Getting low for leverage is virtually impossible with his NBA-like size. There are other ways he can be effective but creating leverage from the ground up is not likely one of them.
Fit in Seattle
In case you haven't heard, the Seahawks need tackles—as in plural. Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan are currently the projected starters at left and right tackle, which is not ideal, especially if the team is trying to compete in 2022, possibly with a rookie quarterback.
While Faalele is not the most polished technician or the most elite athlete, his massive frame and athletic background suggests he could learn on the fly as Seattle's starting right tackle.
Most pundits have Faalele going somewhere on day two. The Seahawks have three day two picks, including consecutive picks at No. 40 and No. 41. If they have not addressed the offensive line by the time they get to day two and Faalele is available, it would behoove them to take a long look at selecting him.
Previous Seahawks NFL Draft Profiles
Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina | Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa | Arnold Ebiketie, EDGE, Penn State | Tyler Allgeier, RB, BYU | Desmond Ridder, QB, Cincinnati | Tariq Woolen, CB, UTSA | Cameron Thomas, EDGE, San Diego State | Trevor Penning, T, Northern Iowa | Hassan Haskins, RB, Michigan | Abraham Lucas, T, Washington State | Troy Andersen, LB, Montana State | Boye Mafe, EDGE, Minnesota | Kingsley Enagbare, DE, South Carolina | Cade Otton, TE, Washington | Rasheed Walker, T, Penn State | Brandon Smith, LB, Penn State
