Latu Faatui

Draft-Week Buzz

No verified pre-draft news items in the past 30 days for this prospect. See Day 2/3 Team Fits below for projected landing spots and /news.html for the cross-prospect timeline.

Background

Arizona State TE from Provo (UT); Polynesian-heritage F-TE.

College Production

2024-25 ASU: 45 career rec — rotational in Dillingham's offense.

Scouting Take

Receiving F-TE with run after catch. Blocking mediocre.

Draft Projection

Round 7-UDFA. Move-TE depth.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• 247Sports Profile
• Google Search (school + name)

Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.

Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits

NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Latu Faatui as a Day 2/3 replacement option.

• REPORTED Pittsburgh Steelers: moved on from Jonnu Smith (two-way-TE).
  Picks held: R1 #21; R2 #53
• REPORTED Seattle Seahawks: moved on from Will Dissly (blocking-TE).
  Picks held: R1 #32; R2 #64

Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.

NFL Scheme Fit

Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.

Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook

Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.

Versatility, Limits & Roster Pathway

Derived from height/weight against the 2026 position cohort and the prospect's projected round. Versatility callouts identify alternate alignments NFL teams have historically used for similar size profiles. Limiting-trait notes flag the single most-cited measurable concern; severity reflects how often that flag ends a Day 1 starter projection. Roster-pathway notes describe the realistic Year 1 NFL role for Day 3 picks.

By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context

• Frame: Among 2026 TE prospects, his 6-4 / 250 lbs frame sits at the 78th percentile in height and 96th percentile in weight.
• Position class: Latu Faatui is TE #17 of 23 ranked TEs in the 2026 class. Of those, 10 are projected in the R7/UDFA range.
• School pipeline: One of 6 Arizona State prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft — but the only TE.

Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.

Latu Faatui’s NFL Archetype: Sam LaPorta

Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions)

Closest TE physical profile in the modern NFL: 6-4/250 lbs. Same frame, same role bucket — NOT a talent or career-arc projection.

Note: this is a physical-profile match — frame, position, role bucket. Not a talent or career-arc projection.

Similar Tight End Prospects

Closest matches to Latu Faatui (6-4 / 250 lbs, #17 TE) by ranking proximity and physical profile. SIZE MATCH = within 1″ height and 10 lbs; TIER MATCH = within 2 ranking spots.

• DJ RogersSIZE MATCH TCU · 6-4/245 lbs · #19 TE · UDFA
• Lake McReeSIZE MATCH USC · 6-4/240 lbs · #15 TE · R7
• Jaren KanakSIZE MATCH Oklahoma · 6-3/240 lbs · #18 TE · UDFA
• RJ MarylandSIZE MATCH SMU · 6-4/240 lbs · #20 TE · UDFA
• Lance MasonSIZE MATCH Wisconsin · 6-4/245 lbs · #13 TE · R6-R7

→ Full Tight Ends rankings

Arizona State & The 2026 Class