Talanoa Hufanga, Troy Polamalu’s Pupil, Is Ready To Make An NFL Impact…
Ryan Hartje (LA Times) — No USC prospect proved more in six games last season than safety Talanoa Hufanga, who led the conference in interceptions, won Pac-12 defensive player of the year and earned consensus All-America honors.
Still, Hufanga may wind up waiting until the third day of the draft to hear his name called.
A history of injuries, including two collarbone breaks, a dislocated shoulder, and a concussion, combined with a lack of top-end speed, have apparently made some teams wary. But Hufanga kept a clean bill of health last season while still maintaining his hard-hitting style in the box. Used correctly, his coaches suggest, his instincts will help make up for that speed.
In recent months, he’s trained one-on-one with one of the most instinctive safeties in NFL history, former Trojan and NFL Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
USC safeties coach Craig Naivar said he’s fielded several calls from interested NFL teams raving about Hufanga’s ability to break down defenses.
“He’ll translate because he’s what they want,” Naivar said. “He’s multi-faceted. They can put him in the box. They can play him high. They can blitz him off the edge. … I think too much is focused on what round you go in and stuff like that. When he gets somewhere, he’s going to be an impactful guy.”
At least three other Trojans should hear their names called in the middle rounds.
Like Aijah Vera-Tucker, wideout Amon-ra St. Brown was expected to declare for the draft if the Pac-12 hadn’t played its season in the fall. Instead, he caught seven touchdowns in six games as USC’s top receiver.
But that performance didn’t do much to change his draft stock. St. Brown is expected to be selected somewhere between the late second round and the fourth round.
Defensive tackle Jay Tufele opted not to play during the 2020 season, but he could still be picked in a similar range. Marlon Tuipulotu, who took over for Tufele as USC’s top interior defensive lineman, shouldn’t be far behind.
Wideout Tyler Vaughns and cornerback Olaijah Griffin are likely to be available in the late rounds and could find themselves on the outside looking in. But with the draft pool significantly smaller this year than in past years due to COVID-19, both might hear their names called late.
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Talanoa Hufanga evaluation per nfl.com Overview (Draft projection is rounds 4-5 by NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein) Safety with add-on potential who can come into the box and give his defense an additional linebacker look thanks to his strength and urgency near the line of scrimmage. He can handle zone-cover duties and matchups on in-line tight ends, but lacks the burst and top-end speed to be asked to handle a more expansive role on the back end. He pursues the run with patience and leverage, but will need to quicken his pace some, or he could find that NFL speed defeats… Read more »
Good morning Allen. I may be looking in the wrong places but I can’t find anything on Tyler Vaughns. Any idea why he is listed as a late round or possibly a free agent signing? He made a lot of clutch catches in his 4 years and he is physical. Seems like we have seen lots of guys like him go in rounds 3-5. Wonder what the knock on Ty is?
Tyler has simply not been included by some NFL Draft analyst-types. For lack of a better description, I think he is viewed by many as “just another guy.” Or phrased another way, “Wide Receivers are basically a dime a dozen in the NFL.” He’s viewed as a good, but not great college player, who was always overshadowed by other Trojan WRs and will already be 24 by the time the season starts. People generally like the more productive Amon-ra St. Brown better, and that would include me as well. There’s nothing urgent about TV’s talent to make schools think they… Read more »
Good stuff. Thanks. As an SC fan I hope TV finds the right team and turns into a solid NFL player for 5 years. Stranger things have happened.