The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2025 season in 61 days against Portland State. As we continue counting down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 61 - senior guard Weylin Lapuaho - by providing three interesting, fun facts:
Fun fact No. 1 - He won All-Big 12 awards last year
Weylin began his college career with the Utah State Aggies in 2022 and won a starting role as a true freshman. After his breakout season in Logan he transferred to BYU in 2023 and once gain earned a starting role on the interior offensive line. In 2023 he not only started all 10 games in which he played for the Cougars, he was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team as well. He's a true student-athlete.
Last year he was a co-captain and started all 13 games in BYU's outstanding 11-2 season. He was feted with honors for his play last year, including All-Big 12 Third Team by College Football Network and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention by the coaches.
Fun fact No. 2 - He's a local Utah product
The 6-foot-4, 310-pound mauler prepped at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah. He was a solid three-star prospect coming out of high school with an 85 rating from 247 Sports. He was the No. 18 prospect in the state of Utah in the class of 2022. Despite playing high school ball not far from Provo, BYU didn't show much interest in him early on. Fortunately for Cougars fans, he transferred to BYU after his breakout season in Logan.
Fun fact No. 3 - He's a "Sunday player"
BYU has a solid track record putting offensive linemen in the NFL. Brady Christensen, Blake Freeland, and Kingsley Suamataia have each been drafted in recent years while Caleb Etienne signed as an undrafted free agent this year. Weylin Lapuaho could be the next player to go from Provo to the NFL.
Jay Drew of the Deseret News wrote an excellent profile about Lapuaho in which offensive line coach TJ Woods referred to him as a "Sunday player." The profile reveals that Weylin gave the NFL a serious look after last season but decided to come back this year to hone is craft for one more season before pursuing his NFL dream.