BYU Football Recruiting: 2015 Commit is on ESPN’s Top 300 List

Nov 9, 2013; Madison, WI, USA; A Brigham Young football sits on the field during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin won 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

One of BYU’s 2015 commits is receiving national recognition by ESPN’s Scouts Inc.

ESPN released their top 300 prospects list for the class of 2015 today, and one of BYU’s 2015 verbals was on the list.

Mika Tafua, a defensive end from Honolulu, Hawaii (Kamehameha High) was #242 on ESPN’s Top 300.  It’s always big news when a BYU commit is ranked in a national list like ESPN Scouts Inc.  In the 2014 class, BYU had zero players in ESPN’s final top 300.

Tafua has been committed to BYU for over a year now.  When he committed to BYU in January of 2013, he was your typical unknown prospect from the islands.  What was interesting about his commitment was the fact that he was receiving an offer as a sophomore in high school.  In the Mendenhall era, Bronco has only offered nine players as high school sophomores.  The fact that Tafua was receiving an offer that early spoke volumes about his talent.

Fast forward to this year, and Tafua is blowing up on the recruiting scene because of his athleticism off the edge.  Will continue to receive more offers and recognition from Big 5 conference schools.

Watching highlights on Tafua, he has one of the best first steps I’ve seen from a BYU DE prospect in the past 10 years.  He has a tremendous ability to close.  Tafua needs to bulk up though.  At 215 pounds that’s not going to be a defensive end at the collegiate level.  He would be a linebacker if he was at BYU today.

It’ll be interesting to see where Tafua is in the national rankings next winter when we get closer to signing day.

There are two other players in the ESPN 300 to keep an eye on in regards to BYU’s 2015 class.  QB Travis Waller from Anaheim, CA, and Osa Masina, an OLB from Salt Lake City’s Brighton High.  Both Waller and Masina have received offers from the Cougars.  Masina is a long shot for BYU.  All indications point to Masina leaving the state, but Waller will be someone to keep tabs on.  Waller has eight other offers, all from schools in the Big 5 conferences.  It’ll be a tough task for the Cougars to land Waller, but if they get him to visit campus they will have a shot.  Waller is rated as the #7 dual-threat QB in the 2015 class by ESPN.

Waller is from Servite High School which BYU has had success recruiting to in the past.  Linebackers Jherremya Leuta-Douyere and Butch Pau’u (mission; returning in 2015) are from there.  Like BYU, Servite is a private, religious school.

Highlights on Mika Tafua: