Taliese Fuaga ran his fingers through his hair to signal he’s due for a haircut.
Usually he wouldn’t care about growing out his hair during summer football camps, but his new teammates with the New Orleans Saints have made jokes about the thin ponytail—or rat tail—that hangs out of his helmet.
Eventually, the Saints will learn why the rookie known as “Tali” keeps the tail.
“I’m going to keep the tail, for sure,” Fuaga told Sports Illustrated after Saturday’s training camp practice in Irvine, Calif. “Everybody is making fun of my hair. But they’ll see once I get that cut.”
Fuaga’s teammates are giving him a hard time for his hairstyle, but in reality, they probably couldn’t care less because of what the team’s 2024 first-round pick has shown on the field this summer and throughout the offseason program.
“I will say this, for as long as I’ve been here, he’s the best rookie offensive lineman I’ve seen,” center Erik McCoy, a sixth-year veteran, told reporters after Saturday's practice. “As far as his mental, physical [ability], I can tell he’s a freakin’ dog.
“I’m a fan already, but don’t put that anywhere because he can’t know that. I gotta talk him down a little bit.”
"I think he's gonna be THAT good of a football player"@Erik_McCoy_73 on @Taliese1 pic.twitter.com/go9TXfYqRY
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) July 27, 2024
McCoy and the Saints don’t have to worry about Fuaga’s head getting too big, no matter how long his hair grows. He describes himself as an easygoing person who might need some time to get out of his shell. But he’s already making jokes with his starting quarterback Derek Carr, who likes to play “Haha, made you look” with his new left tackle.
Fuaga, the 6'6," 324-pound lineman of Samoan descent, also enjoys playing card games such as spades, thirteen and palace. Eventually, he’ll find time to show off his card-game skills with his teammates, but for now, he’s prioritizing learning how to play left tackle after primarily playing right tackle during his time at Oregon State.
The Saints informed Fuaga in May that he’d be swapping positions with Trevor Penning, the 2022 first-round pick who started at left tackle last season. Fuaga merely nodded, and didn’t have many questions about the drastic change—he told the Saints and every team he met with in the lead-up to the draft that he had no issues playing on either side.
“At Oregon State, I was mainly at right tackle,” Fuaga says. “I got all my reps there, so switching to left tackle, it’s a little different, but it’s something you just gotta work on everything. … I didn’t feel any kind of way. I told everybody I met with I’ll play wherever they want me, so I just gotta be ready for everything.”
Fuaga has had to adjust to being pushed by vaunted edge rushers Cameron Jordan, Chase Young and Carl Granderson during practices. That impressive trio has quickly learned, however, that Fuaga isn’t afraid to push back.
Most draft scouting reports mentioned Fuaga’s tenacity and the mean streak he plays with on the field, which is hard to see when he’s joking with his teammates. But Fuaga says that once he’s on the field, he becomes a ruthless bodyguard for his quarterback.
Camp stop No. 4: #Saints
— Gilberto Manzano (@GManzano24) July 27, 2024
Derek Carr ready for practice 🏈 pic.twitter.com/hawbBxMb3Y
“You just gotta have a different mentality,” Fuaga says. “My parents, especially my mom, she says, ‘Just be yourself.’ But when it comes to game time, you gotta be serious. My dad always says, ‘You know what to do.’”
The Saints are well aware that the No. 14 pick in the draft knows what to do on the football field.
Best thing I saw: Spencer Rattler’s touchdown bomb to Mason Tipton
Rattler, the 2024 fifth-round QB, delivered the first highlight throw of Saturday’s practice when he spotted Tipton, an undrafted rookie receiver from Yale, a few steps ahead of his defender. Rattler moved to his left and unleashed a tight spiral down the sideline to hit Tipton in stride for a touchdown.
That was one of many memorable connections between Rattler and Tipton, but more on them in a bit.
Best thing I heard: Taysom Hill will soon get his QB reps
Hill, the do-it-all skill player for the Saints, is listed as a quarterback on the training camp roster. But he didn’t attempt a pass Saturday behind a QB rotation that includes Carr, Rattler, Jake Haener and Nathan Peterman.
Saints coach Dennis Allen was asked whether new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak will create plays to utilize Hill as a passer during games. The team has had plenty of success with Hill as an occasional quarterback since he arrived in New Orleans in 2017.
“Why don’t we get him good at the things that maybe he hadn’t done quite as much?” Allen said. “Let’s get him good at those things, and then it’s kind of like riding a bicycle a little bit. We’ll be able to get him back on the bike a little bit and line him up at the quarterback position.”
Rookie who impressed: Spencer Rattler, quarterback
Rattler waved at Fuaga during his interview with SI to let him know how well he did Saturday.
But Rattler, who played at South Carolina after transferring from Oklahoma, also had an impressive outing on the field at UC Irvine. He’s already the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart behind Carr and even received reps with starting wideouts Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. But his best throws went to Tipton, who racked up yards against the Saints’ second-string defense.
The two were in sync on a route that took Tipton from the middle of the field to a spot near the sideline. After letting the route develop, Rattler threw a floater that fell down in time to hit Tipton’s hands before the wideout went out of bounds.
“Spencer is a great guy,” Fuaga says. “He’s pretty professional. He’s professional with everything he does, like play calls and how he goes through his day. But when you go off the field, he’s a great guy. … He always gives me that, ‘Ah, c’mon, let’s get this money today.’”
Veteran who impressed: Willie Gay Jr., linebacker
The Saints’ talented defense could be better this season with the arrival of Gay, the former standout linebacker of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The two-time Super Bowl champion was a sideline-to-sideline playmaker throughout Saturday’s practice. He recorded an impressive pass breakup vs. Carr, who attempted to hit Hill on an outlet throw near the left sideline.
New Orleans could have a productive group of linebackers headlined by Gay, Demario Davis and Pete Werner.
Song of the day: “Umm Hmm” by YoungBoy Never Broke Again
I’m not a big fan of new-age rap because my hip-hop taste got stuck in the 2010s, but hey, I gotta make at least one current track a “song of the day.”
The Saints didn’t have many songs to choose from because the bulk of practice didn’t have music, which makes some sense with only friends and family in attendance. The music only played during breaks in practice and periodically during individual drills.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Saints Training Camp Notebook: Rookie LT Taliese Fuaga Earning High Praise.
