2021 NFL draft evaluations: 49ers saw Talanoa Hufanga’s toughness
Matt Zemek (Trojans Wire) — Five USC Trojans were drafted in 2021. While Tyler Vaughns might have found a good situation with the Indianapolis Colts, he joined the team as an undrafted free agent.
Among the five draft picks from USC, Talanoa Hufanga found the best situation with the San Francisco 49ers.
We continue our series in which we feature what our NFL Wire partner sites are saying about the USC Trojans who have joined professional ball clubs.
This is what our partners at Niners Wire had to say upon learning that Talanoa Hufanga would become a 49er:
Hufanga did a little bit of everything for the Trojans during his three years there. In 24 games, he racked up 203 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, four interceptions and eight pass breakups.
The 49ers don’t have a ton of depth at safety, nor do they have many long-term options there.
Hufanga doesn’t have the kind of range to play the Jimmie Ward role at free safety, but he has the skills near the line of scrimmage to play strong safety in the 49ers’ defense. He’s an extremely willing tackler who looks like a linebacker at times, but Hufanga is more than capable of playing coverage in short areas in the middle of the field against running backs and tight ends.
He needs a little development, but he has the tools to contribute on special teams right away and projects long-term as a strong safety.
Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers get their players to play with force. This is something Clay Helton has largely failed to cultivate at USC, but if anyone on the Trojans’ 2020 defense DID in fact play with force, it was Hufanga, the man who constantly was in the right place at the right time. His nose for the ball and his feel for the game enabled him to rescue the Trojans several times in the truncated Pac-12 season. The 49ers saw this high football IQ, combined with an appetite for battle, and gained what will likely be viewed as one of the better steals of the 2021 NFL draft.
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My fellow Colts fans are happy that Marvell Tell will be playing for the Colts this year …..I passed on a thought that the undrafted free agent the Colts just signed (WR Tyler Vaughns) can most definitely make the roster ….And the Indy newspapers reporting Colts …..by tomorrow night ….probably have ALL their draft picks signed ….pretty fast work !
Talanoa Hufanga made Marvell Tell look like a back-up when the two were at USC.
If I were a 49er fan, I’d be totally jacked about having Hufanga enforcing my secondary. I might have to become a Niner fan for a while, unless Hufanga breaks his collar bone again, in which case I’m trying to figure out whether I like the Rams, or the Chargers the best now.
The Athletic — Lions draft class first impressions: What Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and others bring to Detroit Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, USC Chris Burke: So, you got some Robert Woods vibes from St. Brown. I noticed a little Cooper Kupp in how he sets up his routes over the middle. Maybe those are too obvious, given the Rams hook. Fair to say we both liked what we saw here, though. What’s the main selling point? Nick Baumgardner: He’s a high-floor player and, athletically, he and Woods are really similar. Can see what you noted about Kupp, too. He’s a very sturdy… Read more »
My favorite Amon Ra play was one of the three “miracle plays” that beat ASU last year in the last two minutes of the game. I have never seen a play like that and doubt I ever will again. It is the “tip play”. Amon Ra was in the end zone and double covered. Bru McCoy was about 5 feet away from him, also in the end zone and totally uncovered. Slovis threw the ball to Amon Ra. He jumped up and tipped it with one hand to the wide open Bru, who made the catch. Bru McCoy then recovered… Read more »
The super rare tip-TD (I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one before) was just an amazing display of a winner’s desire to do whatever it takes to win. And USC won because of it, and the other miracles you point out.
That onsides kick was also a thing of beauty. You’ve got to have the bounces to win a game like that and it was wonderful to see USC get them in a game it needed to win so badly! All the stars were aligned for USC that day. I still can’t believe USC won it. 😀
I still cannot believe either the tip (which I think we will never see again) or the on sides kick. Bru never practiced with the on sides team and that kick was never practiced. But both happened. The season would have turned out totally differently if both those plays had not happened. Go figure.
I actually think practicing onsides kicks is fairly worthless. It’s all about the bounce, and that’s 100% unpredictable. You’ve got to be graced by the Gods to recover one of those. However, I do think practicing at preventing the onsides kick is very valuable exercise and extremely important. You’ve got to have guys who can catch off the ground and have a feel for where balls are likely headed. I totally agree that the USC/ASU game would have set USC on a disastrous course had the Trojans lost. But I bet USC would still have Clay Helton as its coach.… Read more »
An unforgettable onside kick recovery for sure. To me, one equally memorable was when Ray Maualuga snagged one on a hop and ran down the sideline for a TD against Notre Dame.
Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — “Looking beyond the 2022 draft to 2023, things start to get pretty bleak. USC is one of three schools, along with Florida and Michigan, that has had a player picked in every year of the common draft era. Michigan and USC have draft streaks dating back to 1939. The 2023 draft is when the bill might come due for some subpar recruiting efforts in the 2019 and 2020 recruiting cycles though. Receiver Bru McCoy and defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu might be the only draft-worthy prospects that year, and they still have plenty to prove on the field this next… Read more »
Hufanga is an excellent case in point why it is ridiculous for these kids to believe they are going to make the big bucks in the NFL. The kid looked sensational in SC’s 6-game schedule, drawing enough attention to his spectacular play to garner an All-American award. Aaah, but the NFL knew differently. If an NFL team is going to pay millions to a prospect, it is a matter of assessing the risk. And so our SC boy falls out of the 4th round of 128 prospects and lands in no-man’s land of the 5th round. Unless you play for… Read more »
If he plays the entire season he will make around 400-500K with signing bonus and rookie deal. How many recent grads would trade places?
@Chris Talanoa Hufanga has basically struck it rich. He got drafted by a well-coached team ready for the Super Bowl and they need help at safety. If he can play (regardless of where he went to school), he’ll make the big bucks in the second contract, just like Adoree Jackson just did ($40 mil), even though his drafting team, the Titans, released him. Hufanga will also always be known as the truly prestigious Tillman Award winner and a consensus All-American from USC. He scored very big in his three years with the Trojans, was a stud defender from the start,… Read more »
allen, I totally agree. If he’s healthy, he’s going to be good and will stay on the field. He will just go out and make plays.
John, I do not get your point. Let’s take SC. Griffin was a five star CB and left early (and did not get his degree). He was undrafted. This choice is on the kid, not SC. Turns out, his dad is a multi-millionaire, so his bad decision really does not matter as he can return to SC without a scholarship and still get his degree (assuming Dad will pay the freight). My kids played sports at SC and all athletes are required to attend class, required to attend study halls, and have free tutors to help with classes. They also… Read more »
About leaving for the draft early being on the kid, I might agree if Football doesn’t carry academic credit. If USC hires the most respected and highly regarded professors in their field, they are missing the boat with the their football professor. So a kid who gets bad schooling in football is no worse than a kid who gets bat training in engineering. Imagine flying a jet designed by Clay Helton’s engineering class. (hopefully pulling a banner asking that he be fired)
Rialto, Great point. I may well have misread John’s point (and if I did, I apologize). If Clay Helton were a math teacher (his major in college), he would be at best a mediocre high school math teacher. Using Math as an analogy, SC football is comparable to MIT math. Having Clay as the HC of SC football is a bit like having a mediocre (at best) high school math teacher be the head of MIT’s math department. Assuming that was John’s point, I totally agree.
I got a semi-worthless psychology degree from USC and had a few really good teachers. Good. It got me a few decent, but boring job offers, and into law school. But I learned twice as much about people and why they do things living in a fraternity and also cultivating some off-the-row friends and activities. Your education is what you make of it. That was my job to make USC pay off, not USC’s. I would say the same about our football players, who sometimes expect a lot more out of USC football than they seem to put into it,… Read more »
Allen, On that issue, I agree. But, the football players are in a different type of “life preparation.” Look at Adoree – he was able to make more in ten years of his career than I made in my entire law career. I went to law school to get a job as a lawyer. The football ball players are at SC for a shot at a job in the NFL. Where do they get a better preparation for a job in that line of work? At SC under Clay or at AL under Saban? Rialto correctly pointed out to me… Read more »
Then I would say football players should smarten up, regardless of who the coach is. The young Trojans know the obvious stats, and all they have to do is look at the elite number of USC players over the years who couldn’t make it in the NFL, which is basically a super high-risk crapshoot. I would say USC football players need to join reality, and realize their chances at a pro career are very slim from the get-go, for at least a dozen predictable and unpredictable reasons. USC just had only five players drafted out of over 100 on the… Read more »
USC Athletics, LOS ANGELES — For the 12th time in the competition’s 19 years, USC has captured the Crosstown Cup, the annual head-to-head all-sports competition with rival UCLA. USC clinched the Crosstown Cup after sweeping the Bruins in the men’s and women’s track and field dual meet on Sunday (May 2). That gave USC 105 points in the Crosstown Cup competition to the Bruins’ 75 points. Regardless of the outcome of any potential head-to-head matchups in upcoming NCAA championships in women’s water polo and women’s beach volleyball, the Trojans will have enough points and own the first tiebreaker to enable them to retain… Read more »
And speaking of Duane Bickett, per Johnny Hudson, admin of USC Trojans: The Pinnacle of Excellence: Top 50 Greatest Defensive Players in USC History.… #33: Duane Bickett As a true freshman, Bickett was a tight end at USC who was way down the depth chart in 1981. In 1983, he became a starter at defensive tackle, but then moved to inside linebacker, and then was moved to outside linebacker. He continued to improve..,….. His senior season in 1984, was a sensational one for Bickett. He earned all-conference and first-team All-American honors that same year. Bickett was also voted the PAC-10… Read more »
Hufanga is a steal in the 5th round. I am glad he is going to play for a contending 49ers team in the west. I think he will excel in the 49ers defense and fly around and make tackles. I am glad for him and the 49ers as well.
Ronnie Lott must be pleased for TH. The game has changed so much since Lott was cutting off a fingertip to get back in. The latitude defenders now have to hit has become so much more restricted since Lott was patrolling the secondary. Frankly, I can’t imagine trying to get through a game and tackling bang-bang over the middle without getting a targeting call. I definitely agree that Hufanga found “the best situation” with SF. He really landed in the perfect place, though I still can’t believe so many other safeties were taken before him. I’ve obviously overlooked/discounted some weaknesses… Read more »
I think his biggest weakness that even Trojan fans can complain about is his ability to stay healthy. His prior injuries are definitely a concern at the next level. Porter Gustin also had this problem.
@TommyTrojan Hufanga was much more of a reckless hitter, early in his USC career, IMO. He originally played like he felt he just could not get hurt, and therefore, he did. But I definitely noticed how he intentionally tailored his game after the two collarbone breaks to bringing down people with his body and arms, as opposed to his shoulders. Injury patterns are so funny, or unreliable (for lack of a better word). TH could always be hurt with one thing or another, and never make an NFL impact. Or, he could play 10 years, and literally not miss a… Read more »
If he doesn’t contribute in really big ways, I’d be shocked. He’s just a gamer.
The line that says it all is “this is something Clay Helton has failed…” It pretty much boggles the mind that nobody with the power to change this does anything about it.The way Hufanga played was fun to see. It’s what Trojans fans want to see. I hope someone brings it again this season. I also think voting with our ticket money might have some effect on what the administration does next year.
Trojan attendance in 2021 could be pretty down at the Coliseum if you believe the pervasive online expression of general lack of interest in middling USC football and low ticket renewal rumors.
The Trojans now only rank 22nd nationwide in attendance and over the last five years slightly trail UW. Pre-2020 season numbers — USC averaged 66,261 fans per game and UW averages 66,527, to lead the Pac-12.
If the Spring game is any indication, the Coliseum might be a very quiet place this season.