2022 Mountain West Football Top 50: #40, Hawaii DT Blessman Ta’ala
The Warriors defensive tackle cracks our annual list of the Mountain West’s top football players for the first time.
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A quiet and effective leader.
It’s never easy being the man in the middle of a defensive line, though Hawaii’s Blessman Ta’ala, the second Warrior on this year’s countdown of Mountain West football’s best, has had a knack for making his presence known over the years.
Ever since he cracked the starting lineup as a freshman and started all 14 games in 2018, Ta’ala has had a part in the thick of things and made a leap forward in 2021. He finished the year with 30 total tackles, a career-high six tackles for loss, and a overall Pro Football Focus grade of 75.3 that ranked fifth among interior defenders in the Mountain West.
Could the NFL be in the American Samoan’s future? With 51 games of experience already behind Ta’ala, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the conference that’s put more on tape, but his immediate future will almost certainly revolve around helping to lead the program’s newfound braddahood.
Every once in awhile we let the bear out of his cage! 160k/352# @Blessedman_55 #SendIt #HawaiiFB pic.twitter.com/5DbJr3cVCG
— Coach Cooke (@KodyCooke) June 24, 2022
