Urah added another prospect to its 2021 class this evening, with the commitment of Kolinu’u Faaiu, a 6-foot-4, 320 pound offensive lineman out of Archbishop Murray H.S. in Everett, WA. Faaiu is the second prospect that Utah has pulled out of Washington, along with linebacker Trey Reynolds, and is the fourth overall commitment of the 2021 class.

Faaiu held offers from 10 different schools, including Michigan State, Washington State, Colorado, Boise State, and Maryland. Though Faaiu has played tackle for his high school, he projects as an interior lineman at the next level.

What Utah is getting

Faaiu is a long, athletic lineman, who carries 320 pounds very well on his frame. There are several instances in his Hudl film where he shows off his athleticism, whether it’s pulling from his tackle spot to pave the road for a running back on a counter play, or chasing down an opposing linebacker that just made an interception and had his eyes on the endzone. In the run game, Faaiu is a mauler, showing the ability to take multiple defenders out of a play, and also having several pancake blocks on his highlight reel.

Most of Faaiu’s junior year highlights were of him in the run game, and it was impressive. In the few pass plays that were shown, Faaiu showed that he has some natural ability to bend, though that’s something that he can refine. It also shows that his feet likely aren’t fast enough to play tackle at the next level, which won’t be a problem for Utah since they are recruiting him as a guard.

What this means for the class

Faaiu is the first offensive linemen for the Utes’ 2021 class and their fourth commitment overall, including: Trey Reynolds (linebacker), Peter Costelli (quarterback), and Tevita Fotu (defensive tackle). With only one outgoing senior among Utah’s projected two-deep for the interior line group. Going forward, offensive guard is not a huge need for this class. The Utes have seven interior linemen on scholarship that are freshmen or sophomores, and also have two more incoming true freshmen that could play along the interior with Alex Harrison and Solatoa Moeai.

With his commitment, Utah will look to bring in 1-2 more for the offensive line—preferably tackles—with the crown jewel that they’re going after being Orem HS lineman, Kingsley Suamataia, but they’ll have to battle Oregon to keep him home.