Former Rams coach compares this draft prospect to 2 franchise all-time greats

Mike Martz summons names “Orlando Pace” and “Jackie Slater” when he talks about Taliese Fuaga

Mike Martz didn’t have the head coaching career that he and the Rams had hoped for, but having been with the franchise as early as 1992 and as recently as 2005 he knows plenty about what it’s like to be around the all-time greats. Does that make it more meaningful then that Martz sees Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga as a premier right tackle prospect and someone who has certain traits that remind Martz of Orlando Pace and Jackie Slater?

Martz did not say that Fuaga’s NFL comps are Pace and Slater, he did not go that far, he just mentioned several times in this video for The 33rd Team that at times he perceived certain pass blocking abilities that reminded him of two offensive tackles who were on the team at the same time as him. Here’s what Martz said of the play that reminded him of something few offensive linemen can do:

“His sets gonna be impeccable on his left leg. Right there he gets caught on that left foot and is able to pivot and pick up the guy coming around. The big deal here is the amount that he can put on the inside move here. He just throws him down inside, gets caught on that left leg and he’s still square, and then can recover back on the twist here. Guys that can get on one leg like that, you know Orlando Pace could do that, get on one leg like that and have the balance, power, and strength to recover just like nothing happened and not be off balance and get beat. He’s just a natural there, his technique is impeccable.”

On Slater, Martz made the comparison much more directly:

“His technique in the passing game reminds me of Jackie Slater. Watch his left leg, all the weight on the left leg and he doesn’t turn early. He stays square and times his punch. Sits his ass down and guy can’t get off him. Pass setting is really good.”

“He’s a beautiful right tackle. He reminds me of Jackie Slater in his technique, how he punches his strength, his pop, his awareness. I think it would be a sin for him to do anything but play right tackle. Moving him inside is a waste. You can’t find guys like this that have this kind of length, this kind of braun, this kind of technique and athleticism and size. And you know, understanding how to play right tackle. They’re hard to come by.”

Martz joined the Rams as an offensive assistant in 1992, which puts him on the team for the final four years of Slater’s Hall of Fame career spanning 20 seasons with one franchise. St. Louis drafted Pace in 1997, giving Martz an opportunity to coach him for seven years after he returned as offensive coordinator in 1999. In fact, Orlando Pace went to the Pro Bowl in seven-of-seven seasons with Martz and 0-of-6 seasons without Martz.

The funny thing here is that Martz cites Fuaga’s length as a plus multiple times, but in actuality his 33” arms and 80.5” wingspan is right around the bottom of the tackle class. However, you can’t blame Martz for this error because Daniel Jeremiah said himself that he was shocked to find out that Fuaga has “short arms” due to the fact that there’s nothing on tape to indicate he has short arms.

The first half of the Rams-Fuaga question is whether or not Fuaga will even be available to the Rams. Right now he has a consensus big board ranking of 17th overall, so two spots ahead of where L.A. picks at 19th overall. (For now.) Essentially what that means though is that the media expectation of the draft indicates that maybe there’s a 50/50 or 40/60 chance Fuaga makes it to 19. Some think Fuaga will be a top-10 pick, but you don’t have to go that far to find a person who believes his arm length maybe puts him at a disadvantage in a deep tackle class and he goes in the 20s.

But I don’t hear a bad word about Fuaga, I guess it just matters if you have an opening at right tackle or not and that tells me he should go in the first 15 picks because plenty of teams would welcome an upgrade at the position. Whether he is a left tackle or right tackle should not matter either as none of the first four offensive line picks in last year’s draft is currently a left tackle: Paris Johnson, Darnell Wright, Peter Skoronski, and Broderick Jones were all top-15 picks.

The second half is whether or not the Rams would draft Taliese Fauga at a time when they employ Rob Havenstein and my answer to that is if he’s the highest-graded prospect remaining on the board then no fan should be mad about Les Snead following the board. The Rams made a massive investment at guard (free agency) and center (first pick of 2023), but it could all be for nothing if the offensive line is vulnerable at tackle. Havenstein could be in the final season of his L.A. career, but how many more years do fans expect the 32-year-old to play?

In any case, one thing you won’t find is mock drafts connecting Fuaga to the Rams. Mostly because most mock drafts have Fuaga off the board already, but also because the Rams have Rob Havenstein. McVay certainly would not redshirt Fuaga, so he would have to make a decision between whether to move Fuaga or Havenstein or trade Havenstein.

This connection doesn’t seem very likely to happen on Thursday, but maybe if Mike Martz was in charge it would.