The University of Utah has received a commitment from New Mexico Military Institute defensive end, Vili Taufatofua. The 6-foot-4 and 260 pound defensive lineman had offers from four P5 schools, including Utah, Washington State, Oregon State, and BYU.
He posted his commitment on Twitter, Sunday evening:
The back-to-back Pac-12 champs offered Taufatofua on March 21st. He took an official visit back on April 8th and it took him little time to make the call for the Utes.
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What Utah is getting
With the transfer portal, it’s not as common anymore for Utah to turn to the JuCo ranks for talent. However, Taufatofua is one of those rare talents you make an exception for. With his quick first step, and elite quick for his size overall, Taufatofua is a handful at the JuCo level, where he had 81 tackles and 15.5 sacks, and 21.5 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles as a freshman.
If his numbers and speed translate at the P5 level, he could be a nightmare for opposing offenses. Despite being a 2024 recruit, he’s eligible immediately and the anticipation is for him to arrive over the summer and suit up for this coming fall. Taufatofua will have four years to play three.
