BleedGopher
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per Berman:
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Faalele ranked the No. 52 prospect in this spring’s draft. Faalele is expected to be drafted in the first two rounds. And the player Faalele considers his NFL comparison?
“Definitely Jordan Mailata,” Faalele said before one of his Senior Bowl practices. “We share a lot of similarities.”
Mailata was just shy of his 21st birthday when he came to IMG to prepare for the NFL Draft as part of the league’s International Player Pathway program. His first time playing football in a game came against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Faalele was a teenager when he enrolled at IMG as a junior in high school and drew scholarship offers from college football’s heavyweights. He started three years in the Big Ten. He doesn’t come to the NFL as a finished product, but he at least arrives with experience against top-level pass rushers. Mailata was a blank canvas who needed to learn how to get in a pass set and what to do when the ball is snapped. That’s why Mailata was a seventh-round lottery ticket and Faalele will be off the board much earlier. But it’s easy to watch Faalele, hear his story and realize that this is the next player in what they hope can be an Australian pipeline.
“I’ve been following his story since he got to the league in ’18, and he’s been progressing really well,” Faalele said of Mailata. “We’re both big, powerful, explosive.”
Mailata played rugby in Australia when he was persuaded to try football. Faalele’s top sport was basketball. He practiced with his club team in high school when a football coach from Hawaii spotted him. That led to a scholarship offer for a sport he never played. Faalele didn’t even know what a scholarship offer meant. Upon learning what football could provide, it began to sound more tempting. Michigan hosted a satellite camp in his native Melbourne. Faalele attended, and that’s where he was connected with IMG, a boarding school and training facility in Bradenton, Fla.
Faalele didn’t play football games during his first year at IMG. He learned the game and acclimated to the American culture. He relied on teammates Cesar Ruiz and Robert Hainsey, both now NFL players.
“They were able to help me by leading by example with basics of football, the rules and terminology,” Faalele said.
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Faalele ranked the No. 52 prospect in this spring’s draft. Faalele is expected to be drafted in the first two rounds. And the player Faalele considers his NFL comparison?
“Definitely Jordan Mailata,” Faalele said before one of his Senior Bowl practices. “We share a lot of similarities.”
Mailata was just shy of his 21st birthday when he came to IMG to prepare for the NFL Draft as part of the league’s International Player Pathway program. His first time playing football in a game came against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Faalele was a teenager when he enrolled at IMG as a junior in high school and drew scholarship offers from college football’s heavyweights. He started three years in the Big Ten. He doesn’t come to the NFL as a finished product, but he at least arrives with experience against top-level pass rushers. Mailata was a blank canvas who needed to learn how to get in a pass set and what to do when the ball is snapped. That’s why Mailata was a seventh-round lottery ticket and Faalele will be off the board much earlier. But it’s easy to watch Faalele, hear his story and realize that this is the next player in what they hope can be an Australian pipeline.
“I’ve been following his story since he got to the league in ’18, and he’s been progressing really well,” Faalele said of Mailata. “We’re both big, powerful, explosive.”
Mailata played rugby in Australia when he was persuaded to try football. Faalele’s top sport was basketball. He practiced with his club team in high school when a football coach from Hawaii spotted him. That led to a scholarship offer for a sport he never played. Faalele didn’t even know what a scholarship offer meant. Upon learning what football could provide, it began to sound more tempting. Michigan hosted a satellite camp in his native Melbourne. Faalele attended, and that’s where he was connected with IMG, a boarding school and training facility in Bradenton, Fla.
Faalele didn’t play football games during his first year at IMG. He learned the game and acclimated to the American culture. He relied on teammates Cesar Ruiz and Robert Hainsey, both now NFL players.
“They were able to help me by leading by example with basics of football, the rules and terminology,” Faalele said.
How 6-foot-8, 387-pound Daniel Faalele hopes to follow in Jordan Mailata’s giant footsteps in Australia-to-NFL pipeline
Faalele, a Minnesota offensive tackle, is set to become the NFL's biggest player. Mailata hopes his arrival means something more.
Go Gophers!!
