Defensive tackle, Utah, 2020–24
Junior Tafuna
- Number
- No. 58
- Height
- 6′3″
- Weight
- 308 lb
- Class (2024)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Taylorsville, UT
- Born
- Feb 27, 2001
Wikipedia readers: about 392 a month over the past year
Junior Tafuna played defensive tackle at Utah (2020–24).
Career highs
9tackles, career highat Arizona, 2021Honors
Team titles: Pac-12 champions, 2021 and 2022
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Utah | 58 | DT | RS | ||
| 2021 | Utah | 58 | DT | Fr. | ||
| 2022 | Utah | 58 | DT | So. | ||
| 2023 | Utah | 58 | DT | Jr. | ||
| 2024 | Utah | 58 | DT | Sr. | 6′3″ | 308 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2024 Utah 10 games, 31 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29 | vs. Southern Utah | W 49–0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 7 | vs. Baylor | W 23–12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 14 | at Utah State | W 38–21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 21 | at Oklahoma State | W 22–19 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 28 | vs. Arizona | L 10–23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 11 | at Arizona State | L 19–27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 9 | vs. BYU | L 21–22 | 5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 16 | at Colorado | L 24–49 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 23 | vs. Iowa State | L 28–31 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Nov 29 | at UCF | W 28–14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Utah 8 games, 17 tackles, 1.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 23 | vs. UCLA | W 14–7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 29 | at Oregon State | L 7–21 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 14 | vs. California | W 34–14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 21 | at USC | W 34–32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 28 | vs. Oregon | L 6–35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 11 | at Washington | L 28–35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 18 | atArizona | L 18–42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 23 ✦ | vs. Northwestern | L 7–14 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
2022 Utah 11 games, 27 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | at Florida | L 26–29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 10 | vs.Southern Utah | W 73–7 | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 17 | vs. San Diego State | W 35–7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 24 | atArizona State | W 34–13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 1 | vs.Oregon State | W 42–16 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 8 | atUCLA | L 32–42 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 27 | at Washington State | W 21–17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 12 | vs. Stanford | W 42–7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | atOregon | L 17–20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 26 | atColorado | W 63–21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 2 ✦ | vs. Penn State | L 21–35 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2021 Utah 11 games, 33 tackles, 4.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18 | atSan Diego State | L 31–33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 25 | vs.Washington State | W 24–13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 16 | vs.Arizona State | W 35–21 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 23 | atOregon State | L 34–42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 30 | vs.UCLA | W 44–24 | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 5 | atStanford | W 52–7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 13 | atArizona | W 38–29 | 9 | 6 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 20 | vs.Oregon | W 38–7 | 3 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 26 | vs.Colorado | W 28–13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 3 | vs.Oregon | W 38–10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. Ohio State | L 45–48 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
Played in the 2025 Senior Bowl (National team, lost 19–22).
| Drill | Combine 2025 | Combine or pro day 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′3½″ | |
| Weight | 308 lb | |
| Arm length | 32½″ | |
| Hand size | 10½″ | |
| Wingspan | 78¾″ | |
| 40-yard dash | 5.03 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.80 sW | |
| Vertical jump | 28½″ | |
| Broad jump | 8′3″W | |
| Bench press | 24 reps | |
| 3-cone drill | 7.51 sW | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.62 sW |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Rosters and honors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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