USC Football: Top 3 Trojan prospects for 2021 NFL Draft

Like the rest of the prospects on this list, Talanoa Hufanga was a highly-touted recruit, rated as a five-star safety on 247Sports. He was listed as the No. 29 overall prospect and top overall athlete in the 2018 class, according to 247Sports. He was the state of Oregon’s No. 1 overall player.

Hufanga is one of the best safeties in the country and finished his sophomore season as the most productive defender for USC. He had 90 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, three pass deflections and two forced fumbles. Although he was incredibly productive, he only played in 10 games as a sophomore.

Even more concerning, he has never played a full season as he appeared in eight games as a freshman, but what makes him intriguing as a pro prospect is the fact that he has 18 games in his career and has 141 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and seven passes defender. That’s what you call production.

Hufanga had surgery on his shoulder and was expected to miss spring ball, but he was lucky enough that it was cancelled so he’s on the same page as everyone else.

Don’t be surprised if this All-Pac-12 second-teamer becomes the first safety off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft.