2024 Recruiting Profile: Paki Finau, OL

As per tradition, I’m spending the offseason working my way through the upcoming recruiting class. I’ll be taking a look at the tape of our current Class of 2024 commitments, getting a feel for their skills and talent, and assessing where they might fit on our roster.

Paki Finau (OT, 6’4” 265, Oak Hills HS, CA)

UW’s latest commitment came in the form of touted 2024 OL recruit Paki Finau from Southern California. The stud lineman with shades of Troy Fautanu to his game is Scott Huff’s latest blue chip prospect with inside-outside versatility and a road-grading mentality.

Standing at 6-4 and a lean 265 lbs, Finau fits Huff’s trend of targeting big athletes with the physical playing style that he can develop into whatever OL position he needs them to play. Finau has primarily played RT for his HS team, but he has traits that could make him a fit anywhere along the line. When I first watched his junior season tape, the first thing that stood out to me was his “finisher” mentality. Contrary to the popular narrative, there are plenty of big athletes out there in the HS ranks who could project to play line at the P5 level. What’s scarce are the number of those big athletes who want to play a physical position like offensive or defensive line instead of tight end or basketball. For Finau, I know every recruit limits their hudl clips to highlights, but the number of plays where he is running his opponent 15 yards away from the play to get the pancake or picking up a second block after mauling his primary assignment shows that he’s got a mean streak in the trenches. He craves contact and plays beyond his assignment to the whistle.

The other trait that stood out on film were Finau’s active feet. Having done these breakdowns for a few years (you can look them up on my Recruiting Notebook Thread), I’m used to seeing Huff’s recruits display a lot of pulling in the HS tape. Generally speaking, its an indicator of athleticism, but it also shows that the recruit can pull off a couple of different blocks, which is absolutely necessary in our diverse run game. What I don’t usually see is a hudl reel full of stretch zone reach blocks at the point of attack. Finau’s light feet and agility in space allowed him to regularly pick off LBs and DBs at the second level, as well as sealing the edge on a 5-tech DE more often than not. When he wasn’t able to reach the DE’s outside shoulder, he’d kick into road grading mode and drive the defender clear out of the picture.

This light footwork also showed up in his handful of pass protection reps on tape. In his junior season tape below, he regularly took pass sets towards the interior against tight DE alignments to cut off inside rushes before quickly sliding back out to pick up a wide blitzer. That change of direction, when also paired with his natural strength to anchor (2:58 mark) and independent hand fighting technique (2:43), make me think he could be a high upside pass protector despite being on the shorter side for an OT.

Analysis

In my opinion, Finau has OT upside, but he also has what it takes to be a solid guard on the interior. If I were to guess, 2023 OL signees Elishah Jackett and Soane Faasolo are going to get a chance to develop at OT ahead of Finau, but he might find the field sooner than either of them by cross training at iOL. Huff has been known to cross train his guys at multiple positions, so there is a clear path to OT practice reps if Finau can show he has what it takes. The 2023 OL class has a bunch of taller OL with inside/outside versatility, and most will get looks at OT, but Jackett and Faasolo are the least likely to end up inside. If Finau can develop and perform well enough to get on the field at any of the positions, he may find himself on the perimeter as our next Fautanu shortly thereafter.