Sаіntѕ’ Tаlіeѕe Fuаgа һаѕ аlreаdy gаіned eаrly ѕupremаcy over fellow tаlented rookіeѕ

With the 2024 regular season over, New Orleans Saints left tackle Taliese Fuaga has already established himself as one of the best players in his draft class.

Every offseason, teams spend months evaluating a ton of prospects in an attempt to do the impossible: guarantee a successful draft. No matter how much film teams watch, how many pre-draft meetings they have, and how many on-field workouts prospects participate in, selecting a player is always going to be a gamble.

Fortunately for the New Orleans Saints, the gamble they made in the first round of the 2024 Draft is already paying off. The Saints drafted offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga out of Oregon State with the 14th-overall pick. Fuaga played right tackle in college, and draft experts argued that he should be a guard in the NFL. However, New Orleans made him a starting left tackle from day one, and Fuaga made the franchise look smart.

As a rookie, he started all 17 games, and quickly established himself as a staple of consistency for the Saints. He was absolutely dominant in the run game, and also solid in pass protection. Everyone in New Orleans quickly recognized the kind of player the team landed, and people throughout the league have realized as well.

Recently, ESPN’s Ben Solak put together a First and Second All-Rookie team. Saints’ rookie Taliese Fuaga was named as the First-Team tackled beating out fellow talented linemen JC Latham (Tennessee Titans) and Olu Fashanu (New York Jets).

Taliese Fuaga makes ESPN’s All-Rookie Team

Solak admitted that it was difficult deciding between the three linemen, because all three guys were really good during their first seasons in the league. However, Fuaga ultimately got the First-Team nod.

"I found myself most impressed by Fuaga, who I thought would take more rookie lumps transitioning from the right side to the left and pass-setting against NFL pass rushers. Fuaga still has a wart or two in pass protection, but he more than makes up for it with dominant power in the running game and the strength to recover when he loses early in his reps. The future is bright at left tackle in New Orleans."

Ben Solak (ESPN)

Saints fans can definitely get on board with this. In a down year for the team, Fuaga emerged as a bright spot for not only this year, but the future. As New Orleans rebuilds it’s roster this offseason, there's a sense of comfort knowing the left tackle position is already filled.