Long before being mock drafted to tackle-needy NFL teams, Daniel Faalele's path to the Draft began back in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne while training at the Conquest Athletic Performance facility in 2016.
A rare athlete whose exploits on the basketball courts of his home town had left a trail of awe-struck witnesses, the 6'8" 16-year-old was one of the earliest prospects out of Conquest and Australia to gain major college football recruiters' attention.
That untapped blend of size, speed and mobility was the major factor in drawing the likes of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh to host a satellite camp in Melbourne, with eyes fixed on Faalele and a handful of local prospects as interest across the Power Five conferences grew.
But prior to the Wolverines' visit, the first evaluator to cast eyes on the Melburnian was former New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman, and then-University of Hawaii offensive line coach, Chris Naeole, who'd made the trip across the Pacific to scout a host of talent for the Rainbow Warriors.
A top-10 pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, Naeole worked with Conquest's Head of Performance Dave Tuinauvai as Faalele and fellow teenage prospect Eneasi Kavapalu prepared to convert to the American game, neither having ever played a down.
Fielding a host of offers including from SEC heavyweights Alabama, Georgia and LSU, Faalele would ultimately choose to play with the Minnesota Golden Gophers after spending time at IMG Academy in Florida.
Six years on, Naeole recalled some of his early scouting impressions of the projected Day 2 pick with ESPN, revealing how he was immediately struck by Faalele's size.
"When David (Tuinauvai) had me come down to Melbourne to look at the players he was training I could not believe the size of these athletes that were siting in the gym," Naeole said. "The first kid he introduced me to was Daniel, he was only a high school sophomore (Year 11) but he towered over me. I offered him a scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii right away.
"Just an unreal looking human being. People like that don't grow on trees, when you find one like that and at that age? It's ridiculous, it's not rocket science.
"When I showed people a photo, everyone said that's not real, that's fake.
"Daniel had a good basketball background which is a really valuable trait for a big man to play offensive line. You have to be a good athlete to play basketball, it just transitions well. Being able to guard someone on the court is kind of like protecting the quarterback.
"I think the biggest and most crucial thing for him or any player from Australia is to get to the States and play high school football. Lucky for Daniel he was presented that opportunity to go to IMG Academy."
As scouts honed in on the raw talent out of Melbourne, Tuinauvai recalls the profile of Faalele that was forming from college programs early on.
"They were all instantly impressed by Daniel's size and how he moved athletically," Tuinauvai told ESPN. "The coaches needed him to take that athleticism and increase his conditioning, speed, footwork and power to match the demands of college football.
"He also needed to just learn about the game, the details of the position at tackle, which coach Naeole played a huge role in teaching at that stage."
"In the gym, we spent most of the time working on those areas; conditioning, agility and the strength needed to transition to the offensive line at a high level."
While easy comparisons are being made to compatriot and fellow offensive lineman, Philadelphia Eagles' Jordan Mailata, Faalele is a different athlete at the position with a different sporting background. In actuality, he began his football education a year prior to the Eagles' franchise left tackle, who pulled on pads for the first time in 2017.
Half a decade down the road, we can see the contrast and growth in Faalele's journey from the profile Scouts Inc. put together studying the 384-pound offensive tackle, ranked 60th overall by ESPN in the 2022 class:
Strengths:
- Massive with exceptional height, bulk, arm length (35 inches) and hand span.
- As long as he's set with balance, there's no moving him with a power rush.
- He's a $20 cab fare to get around in pass pro, improving with more experience and flashes heavy hands when he connects.
- Faalele has surprisingly good short-area quickness to establish initial positioning and the size to wall-off defenders in the run game.
Weaknesses:
- Despite a massive frame, he's not a glass-eater as a run blocker. There's not a lot of snap in his hands or explosive power at the point of attack.
- Hand placement still needs a lot of work and he frequently oversets and gives up the inside move.
- He also loses balance and lunges too frequently, which leads to falling off blocks.
Questions around Faalele's ability to keep his pad level low and deal with speed rushers have remained throughout the Draft process. But those concerns are balanced by the rare physical traits he has for an offensive lineman, his ability to engulf edge defenders and the developmental upside his late arrival to the game presents.
The expectation is that he'll hear his name called on Day 2 of the Draft, potentially as Australia's highest ever selection.