INDIANAPOLIS -- It's official: Daniel Faalele is a giant.
The Minnesota offensive tackle had his measurements taken Friday at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, and the numbers are a sight to behold:
- Height: 6-foot-8
- Weight: 384 pounds(!)
- Hand size: 11 inches
- Arm length: 35 1/8 inches
- Wingspan: 85 1/8 inches
According to the NFL Research database, which goes back to 2003, Faalele is the modern combine's heaviest player ever -- by 15 pounds. In fact, with that listed weight, he's heavier than any active player in the NFL today. And 384 pounds is actually svelte for the Australia native, who said this week that he was 426 pounds when he first arrived at Minnesota.
In addition to unparalleled anchor weight, NFL evaluators can't help but marvel at the bookend blocker's pterodactyl length.
Faalele, who pumped out 24 reps on that bench press, remains raw from a technical standpoint. No surprise there, considering he grew up in Melbourne and didn't start playing competitive football until 2017. But for such a large human being, Faalele possesses striking movement skills. After all, the Golden Gopher might've scored the BIGGEST big-guy touchdown ever in this past December's Guaranteed Rate Bowl, taking a handoff at the 5-yard line and barreling into the end zone for an internet-friendly score.
While Faalele isn't viewed in the same tier as top OT prospects like Evan Neal, Ickey Ekwonu and Charles Cross, he garners plenty of interest as a developmental prospect, especially given the recent success of Jordan Mailata. Another enormous Australian, Mailata was a rugby player before the Philadelphia Eagles took a chance on him in the seventh round of the 2018 draft. Since then, he's emerged as the Eagles' starting left tackle, signing a four-year, $64 million extension last September.
NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah lists Faalele as the No. 49 overall prospect in this class, calling him "a massive right tackle with surprisingly nimble feet and athleticism."
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