Countdown to Kickoff: No. 81 Taniela Pututau

Like his teammate in the University of Utah countdown just before him, no. 81 Taniela Pututau is an interesting wildcard. Listed as a linebacker, he saw time at tight end during the spring due to injuries at the position. Will that ultimately he ultimately end up in offense or will he stick to defense like the Hauati, Fua and Tennessee Pututau?

Even if Pututau plays defense, that doesn’t mean he ends up at linebacker, as he was initially thought of as a future defensive end. That being said, in Kyle Whittingham and Morgan Scalley defense, some guys are bound to be disguised and used all over the field. Eventually,

Pututau could be the next in a long line of guys like Trevor Reilly and Nate Orchard—two guys that shifted around to multiple positions on defense, but also had the talent for offense.

UteNation take

Pututau is an athlete, plain and simple. At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, the Utes might as well use that to their benefit. UteNation’s Derek Tuimauga once compared Pututau to his former teammate and long-time NFLer Koa Misi. That however, was before his mission when no one knew how much weight he’d put on.

Despite playing well at tight end, his quickest path to the field is likely as the defensive end/linebacker hybrid. Yes, those positions are stacked, but Pututau is someone we can easily see force his way into playing time, even if it’s just crucial “situational” moments for 2021.

The Pututaus are all beasts, and Taniela is not someone to be discounted.

Alex remembers Pututau’s recruitment

Taniela becoming a Ute never really felt like it was in question to me, as the 2017 three-star wide receiver (no. 79 at the position) narrowed his final schools to Utah and Gary Andersen’s Oregon State Beavers. Of course with Andersen’s ties to the state, the Beavers had been hitting Utah hard and doing well, but that wasn’t going to happen with Pututau.

The longtime Utah lean blew his knee out at the start of his senior season, so that also quieted his recruitment. During that time he joked with me that with his family genes, he wasn’t going to be a receiver, so he had been doing training as a defensive end during his rehab before his mission.