Hogs Haven
These articles about the bottom-of-the-roster players are not intended to suggest that any given player is bound for glory; rather, the articles are intended to celebrate the ongoing fight of each player to extend his NFL dream. For those of you who appreciate the fight of the underdog, we hope you enjoy today’s article and the others that came before in this “2026 UDFA Spotlight” series.
Kicker Drew Stevens |DB Fred Davis II | WR Chris Hilton | RB Robert Henry Jr. | TE Quentin Moore | WR Jaden Bradley | DB Malik Spencer | DT Jeffery M’ba
Today, we conclude our 2026 series with Utah OL, Tanoa Togiai.
Tanoa Togiai is easily the most athletic player of this year’s Commanders undrafted free agent class.
The 6-foot-6, 317-pound guard has excellent ratings in both the size and explosion categories, with good ratings in speed and agility. His short shuttle time leaves something to be desired, but his three-cone is above average, and his 33 1/2″ arms are a plus. In fact, Tanoa isn’t just an athletic undrafted free agent; he had the 7th-best RAS score of all the offensive guards in the entire draft.
As referenced above, Utah’s offensive line was one of the most athletic and highest rated in all of college football last season, which may be part of the reason Togiai went undrafted. He may have gotten overlooked. The other may revolve around his raw technique, as Tanoa did not start his career on offense.
Of Polynesian descent, Tanoa grew up in Rigby, Idaho, where he played defensive line for the Rigby High Trojans and helped head coach Armando Gonzalez claim the first of his five state titles. Coach Gonzalez remembered the 2019 5A High Country Defensive Player of the Year fondly for his performance in the semifinal game against Rocky Mountain, stating simply, “They couldn’t block him.”
Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, he transitioned to the offensive line. After sitting out 2020, Tanoa played in two games in 2021, before going on to appear in 21 games with two starts at left tackle over the next two seasons. In 2024, he was named the starting left guard alongside future first-rounders Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu. In an interview during Utah’s fall camp, Togiai spoke briefly about how settling into a role at left guard made him feel more confident.
The continuity suited him, and as a sixth-year senior, Togiai earned All-Big-12 Honorable Mention honors with only seven pressures and seven hurries allowed on 394 pass-blocking snaps. Tanoa didn’t allow a single sack and earned his place amongst a group that were semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, which recognizes college football’s best offensive line unit.
While his senior year performance was impressive, there is no question that Togiai is still very raw at the position. There is no readily available draft profile on Tanoa, but a review of his short highlight reel shows a player that plays too upright and struggles to keep his...
