Recruiting season is picking up. High school football seasons are over and recruits are making their commitments known across the country. BYU has a good looking class so far this season but there are still a number of big names with offers that the BYU coaching staff would love to see in Provo. Today, we take a look at Kamehameha Schools (Honululu, HI) linebacker Mika Tafua. He’s been committed to BYU for nearly two years but as National Signing Day grows closer, Tafua keeps seeing more and more offers roll in.
Star Ratings
More from Recruiting
- BYU Football: What if Jaxson Dart comes to BYU
- BYU Football: Cougars jump up 20+ spots in recruiting
- BYU Football: 3 ways preseason rankings are still hurting current rankings
- BYU Football: The Cougars are winning the NIL game
- BYU Football: Why did BYU target Cade Fennegan and Nick Billoups?
Scout.com: 3-star prospect
Rivals.com: 3-star prospect
247Sports.com: 3-star prospect
ESPN.com: 4-star prospect
I’ve gone on the record in different recruiting Big Boards and recruiting profiles saying BYU commit Dayan Lake is likely the jewel of the Class of 2015. Linebacker Mika Tafua, however, could make a serious argument that he is the most important to the BYU coaching staff. Simply put, Tafua is a player. He’s 6’3″ and 230 lbs. He already has the size to make an impact on BYU’s defense as soon as he walks on campus. BYU isn’t the only school that has realized how much potential Tafua has. Schools like USC, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin have also taken notice. He reports a number of different offers from schools throughout the PAC-12 and the Western United States. He’s going to be really good.
Tafua reminds me of what you could see from Sione Takitaki when he was coming out of high school. He’s got a great combination of speed, size and instinct. A lot of his highlights he’s playing with his hand in the ground, much like Takitaki did in high school, and he has a special ability to shed his block and get into the backfield. He hits hard and he wraps up. He can get to the quarterback and he can defend the run. He has all the potential to be a special football player at the next level. He has the size and the talent that he could put on a few pounds and move to an inside linebacker position and become like Uani Unga or Uona Kaveinga or he could stay on the outside and grow into Kyle Van Noy. I believe that he is as good as any linebacker prospect that BYU has signed over the last few years. (Takitaki, Hinds, Warner, Cook, etc.)
Where Does BYU Stand
Tafua committed in January of 2013. At the time of his commitment, he didn’t have many offers and wasn’t received much attention as he was young in his high school career and hidden in the islands of Hawaii. That has changed in the last two years. He is no longer the hidden gem from the Islands. BYU is still in a really good position, but these next three weeks before Signing Day are going to be huge. He is still set to visit Provo and that is a huge positive for BYU. He’s visited USC, Oregon and Colorado already and is legitimately exploring all of his options. Having a good time when he visits Provo is essential to BYU landing his services.
I’m really torn on this one. BYU needs to land talent like this. He’s a great fit under Bronco Mendenhall’s scheme and he will fit right in after his mission. But it’s really hard to turn down the likes of Oregon and USC. I could see Tafua going to a number of different places. He has friends that play at Oregon, cousins at Colorado and has a great connection with the coaches at USC. Depending on the day, I am convinced that Tafua is going to three or four different schools.
Prediction
Tafua will be serving an LDS mission and has planned on going right out of high school. Ultimately, I think that the LDS culture of BYU and the way that BYU will be able to easily handle his mission plans will be the deciding factors in his decision. I think he stays true to his original commitment. Don’t ask me tomorrow though because I may have changed my mind.
My prediction come signing day: BYU.
Be sure to follow Tafua on Twitter @meekuhh42 to stay up to date on his recruitment and check out his highlights here. He’s a big time prospect and the kind of player BYU needs to land in order to compete as an independent.