2014 BYU Football Newcomers: Tejan Koroma

Tejan Koroma

Allen, TX; Allen High School

6-0, 256

Before BYU:   Tejan Koroma has not played a single snap of Division-I college football yet, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what it’s like to play big time football. Koroma comes from Allen High School in Allen, Texas. You may have heard of Allen High School and their multi-million dollar football facility. Though it’s had some construction issues this past year, when it was open it was one of (if not the most) incredible high school football field in all of America. Oh yeah, and it’s in Texas. Football is a big deal in Texas.

Photo Credit: townsquarebuzz.com

Koroma was the starting center for the Allen High team that went on to win the Texas State Championship his senior year. As a senior in high school, Koroma has played at the highest level he possibly could and he won at the highest level he possibly could. That speaks volumes about him as a player.

All that said, you can see in his highlight film that he is severely undersized for a college lineman. As he’s leaving high school, he stands at just 6’ tall and weighs only 256 lbs. This goes without saying, but he needs to bulk up in order to continue the same success in college that he had in high school. However, he is an extremely strong athlete and can utilize that strength with his excellent footwork to get a decent push off the line. One thing that really stands out to me is his drive when the ball is snapped. He isn’t just satisfied with blocking his guy. He wants to pancake his guy, get up and go find someone else to hit. He’s got a Division-I motor regardless of what size he is.

More highlights can be found here.

Expectations in 2014: Redshirt barring injury to other linemen.

Koroma has potential all over him, but he’s has got to put on some weight before he can be in serious consideration for a spot on the Cougar offensive line. This year BYU returns a number of linemen and is relatively deep compared to where they have been in recent years. It’s not what a true freshman wants to hear, but this is a perfect opportunity for him to take a year and focus on getting bigger. It was made known last year that Bronco Mendenhall plans to use redshirts a little differently than he has in the past, but this seems like a perfect opportunity to save a year of eligibility for an athlete that isn’t quite ready yet.

 The potential in BYU career: Good; eventual starter.

Koroma has potential. Should he live up to his potential, he has a chance to be a multi-year starter on the BYU offensive line. Over the last couple of seasons BYU fans have been begging for an offensive lineman to ‘bring some nasty to the field.’ I think that is Koroma’s biggest strength. He simply wants to hit people. He lines up across from someone and wants to hit them so hard that they fall on their back and lose their breath. Then he wants them to get up so he can do it again on the next play. He has the nasty that this team needs. Once he gains a few pounds, he’ll be a great player for BYU.