BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia is coming off a fantastic college career that started in Oregon and finished with the BYU Cougars. He stands at 6’6” and 324 pounds with a frame to add weight as well.
At only 21 years old, the future could be extremely bright for Suamataia, who has a chance to potentially get drafted late in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Let’s dive into the former BYU offensive lineman’s journey entering the NFL.
Where Did Kingsley Suamataia’s Football Career Start?
Suamataia played high school football at Orem High School in Orem, Utah.
He had a fantastic high school career at Orem, as he was a four-year starter, winning a 5A state championship in all four seasons. As a senior, he allowed zero sacks while ending the season with 70 pancakes.
One of Suamataia’s high school teammates is current Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua.
Suamataia was one of the most sought-after prospects in the country as a five-star recruit. During his initial recruiting process out of high school, he chose Oregon over schools such as Alabama, BYU, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, and USC, among many others.
Revisiting Suamataia’s College Career
Oregon
Suamataia’s time as an Oregon Duck was short-lived, as he played only one season in Eugene, Ore. He redshirted that season and played in only one game.
After that season, he announced that he would enter the transfer portal and decided to continue his collegiate career at BYU.
MORE: Top OTs in the 2024 NFL Draft
BYU
This was just the refresher Suamataia needed for his football career, as he became the household name he was expected to be out of high school.
In his first season at BYU, Suamataia started 12 out of 13 games played. He didn’t allow a sack in 361 snaps at right tackle, and he was named to the CFN All-Independent First Team.
BYU LT Kingsley Suamataia sending this poor DB into helicopter mode to end this play 🚁🚁 pic.twitter.com/1AGfpBUGKv
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2024
Heading into this past season, Suamataia was named on the preseason watchlist for the Outland Trophy.
In 2023 playing left tackle, Suamataia saw action in 11 games and 644 total snaps. He gave up only two sacks this past season, and after a very productive year, Suamataia decided to enter the 2024 NFL Draft.
Suamataia’s Potential in the NFL
The 2024 offensive tackle class is one of the best in recent memory. Suamataia is one of a possible eight tackles who could hear their name selected in the first round, and all of them should be gone by the end of Round 2.
One thing that stands out is that Suamataia is an incredible athlete for a man of his size. As a freshman, he was recorded as traveling 21.5 mph on a play. To put that into perspective, DK Metcalf had the fastest-recorded time on a play in the NFL last year at 22.23 mph.
Pro Football Network draft analyst Ian Cummings is bullish on Suamataia and said his ceiling is as high as any of the other tackle prospects.
KEEP READING: Ian Cummings’ Full Scouting Report of Kingsley Suamataia
“The high-end plays are awe-inspiring, but at the same time, he still has work to do with his leverage and pad-level maintenance, awareness, and overall operational consistency,” Cummings said.
“If Suamataia can keep building beyond his foundation and strive for more consistency maintaining pad level and properly loading his base, he can be an impact starter at a premium position for at least a decade.”
Suamataia has many attributes that some of the best tackles in the NFL possess. If he is able to continue to work on consistency tightening up some of his fundamentals, Cummings believes Suamataia can be a starter for over a decade.
Highlights, Records, and More
Suamataia had a very good first season, as he was named to CFN’s first-team All-Independent team.
Despite moving to left tackle last season, Suamataia still had a solid season and was named to third-team All-Big 12 in the end-of-season CFN awards.
Draft with your friends today! PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator now supports multiple drafters during the same draft! Find out how the PFN Scouting Department ranks this year’s prospects with our 2024 NFL Draft Big Board and follow along throughout the draft with our NFL team needs tracker.