Soane Faasolo is officially a Dawg

Bay Area offensive lineman Soane Faasolo has made it official during early signing day:

Faasolo hails from Menlo-Atherton High School just north of Palo Alto, the same school as class of 2019 middle linebacker Daniel Heimuli. He committed to Washington last June over Oregon State, Cal, and BYU during that month’s cascade of commitments.

Faasolo’s been listed at 6’8” and 6’9,” and then variously at 260, 280, and (self-reported) 300 lbs. (My gut is that self-report might be a smidge inflated.) He’s considered a mid-three star recruit per the different recruiting platforms, with the 247Sports composite listing him at .86.

Based on this general recruiting consensus and his current physical state, Faasolo seems like the classic project-style high ceiling low floor offensive lineman recruit. Given that there are a very limited amount of high floor, high ceiling, mostly-college-ready OL recruits in any given year (and that those gems are pursued by every top program in the country), taking a player or two with raw potential like Faasolo is a pretty good bet over the course of many years.

While they’re not 1:1 comparables, this is a similar case to players from past classes like Robert Wyrsch (‘21) and Samuel Peacock (‘20) — tall, lengthy, athletic, and not even close to fully filled out and coached up yet.

Backing this potential up is Faasolo’s background in basketball and you can see it in his quick feet and mobility. Basketball is always a plus in offensive linemen, especially for those whose body type projects them to tackle given the importance of quick lateral feet without losing balance at that position. Otherwise on the gridiron in high school, once locked up with an opponent he can demolish mostly anybody; adjusting to not having that luxury in college will be a big part of his learning process. Another strength of his that flashes at times in his film is his intuitive ability to use opponents’ own momentum and leverage against them.

Of course it’s his height and length that point to him being a tackle in college, but along with that height will come the challenge of having to build up the leg strength and mobility to get lower in college — if not, being so tall could become a liability as the stronger, faster, and more athletic defensive ends in college could beat him with better bend and leverage. Luckily, as previously established, he’s got a bunch of room to add strength for just this, with it being completely within the realm of possibility for him to add 30 to even 50 lbs considering he’s almost certainly closer to the 260-280 range than 300. If he’s able to do this, the athletic background and skillset could make Faasolo a great signing in a few years.

You can also find our own Coach B’s in-depth breakdown of Faasolo’s game right here.

Do good things, don’t do bad things, and bow down to Washington.