Discuss the content (born February 1, 2000 in Corvallis, Oregon) is an American football player in the safetie position. He played college football for the University of Southern California and has been under contract with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) since 2021.
Hufanga visited the Crescent Valley High School in his hometown of Corvallis, Oregon. There he played football as a quarterback, wide receiver, safety and basketball. Starting in 2018, he attended the University of Southern California to play safety college football for the USC Trojans. As a freshman, he started five of eight games, but had to finish the season early after breaking his right collarbone in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was a starter for the next two years, but missed three games through injury in 2019 and only played six games in 2020 due to the shortening of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hufanga recorded 62 total tackles in the 2020 season, including 5.5 per defeat, as well as four interceptions and two fumbles recovered. He became like Defender of the Year in the Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12) and per All-American consensus choice. He also shared the honor with Zach Wilson Polynesian College Player of the Year and was a finalist in the Lott Trophy competition. After the 2020 season, Hufanga showed up for the NFL Draft. He has played 24 games for Trojans, including 21 as a starter.[1][2][3][4]
Hufanga was selected 180th overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft.[5] The fact that he was selected relatively late in the draft, despite his successful college career, was attributed to his history of injuries and especially his perceived speed as being too slow, so he ran the 40-yard dash in the NFL Combination in 4.64 seconds, which for safety is a relatively slow time.[3][6] As a rookie, Hufanga was a defending reserve player and played extensively on special teams. He has started three of the 15 games of the regular season. In the division playoff round, Hufanga scored his team’s only touchdown in the 49ers’ 13-10 win over the Green Bay Packers. At 3:10 in the fourth quarter, he saved a blocked Packers punt and led him into the end zone for a touchdown. In his second NFL season, Hufanga was promoted to the starting lineup of the 49ers after they failed to renew Jaquiski Tartt’s contract.[7][8][9] On the fourth day of the 2022 season, Hufanga made his first interception in the NFL, in the 24-9 win over the Los Angeles Rams he was able to intercept a Matthew Stafford pass and score a defensive touchdown.[10]
NFL Statistics[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]
| Saison | Games | Face up | Wiretapping | Tinker | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Squad | Games | as a starter | In total | Solo | Ast | Sacks | PD | INT | Yds | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | |
| 2021 | SF | 15 | 3 | 32 | 24 | 8 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| In total | 15 | 3 | 32 | 24 | 8 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Those: pro-football-reference.com[11] | ||||||||||||||||
Hufanga’s father is from Tonga.[12] Many of Hufanga’s relatives also play or have played football. His older brother TJ played for Oregon State University in Corvallis in 2013 and 2014, his cousins Marlon Tuipulotu (in the NFL since 2021 for the Philadelphia Eagles) and Tuli Tuipulotu were and are defensive linemen for the USC Trojans.[1]
- ↑ a b Discuss the content on the USC Trojan website. Retrieved November 8, 2022 (English).
- ↑ Tyler Christensen: BYU offers Sensational Sophomore QB / S / LB Talanoa Hufanga (Class 2018) on byuinsider.com. 14 March 2016, accessed 9 November 2022 (English).
- ↑ a b Eric D. Williams: How Niners Safety Talanoa Hufanga became one of the best defenders in the NFL on foxsports.com. 13 October 2022, accessed 9 November 2022 (English).
- ↑ Ryan Kartje: USC safety Talanoa Hufanga declares himself for the NFL draft. In: Los Angeles Times. December 30, 2021, accessed November 9, 2022 (English).
- ↑ 49ers Select S Talanoa Hufanga with the choice n. 180 in the 2021 NFL Draft on the San Francisco 49ers website. 1 May 2021, accessed 8 November 2022 (English).
- ↑ Eric Branch: The key to Hufanga’s early success of the 49ers? Get answers before the test. In: San Francisco Chronicle. 3 October 2022, accessed 9 November 2022 (English).
- ↑ Jennifer Lee Chan: Impressively soon, Hufanga decided to compete for the starting role of the 49ers on nbcsports.com. June 7, 2022, accessed November 9, 2022 (English).
- ↑ Peter Panacy: List of 49ers: is it wise to include Talanoa Hufanga as owner in 2022? on ninernoise.com. June 19, 2022, accessed November 9, 2022 (English).
- ↑ Jennifer Lee Chan: Hufanga’s instincts produced a groundbreaking touchdown for the 49ers on nbcsports.com. January 23, 2022, accessed November 9, 2022 (English).
- ↑ Kevin Patra: Talanoa Hufanga of the 49ers on pick-6 against Rams: “Screens are like – you can smell a rat when it comes to these things” on nfl.com. 4 October 2022, accessed 9 November 2022 (English).
- ↑ Discuss content statistics on pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022 (English).
- ↑ Adam Grosbard: Talanoa Hufanga’s roots in Tonga prepared him for the USC and NFL draft. In: The Orange County Register. April 29, 2021, accessed November 9, 2022 (English).
