| No. 95 – Las Vegas Raiders | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | August 23, 1998 Oakland, California, U.S. [1] | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 317 lb (144 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Herriman (Herriman, Utah) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Utah (2016–2019) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2020: 4th round, 114th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2024 | |||||||||||||
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George "Leki" Fotu [2] (born August 23, 1998) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). [3] He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Fotu played high school rugby [4] and high school football at Herriman High School, playing defensive end and sporadic tight end. His team won the Utah 5A state championship his senior season. [5] A 2-star defensive end recruit, Fotu committed to Utah on September 20, 2015, choosing the Utes over offers from BYU, Oklahoma State, and USC. [6]
After his sophomore season, Utah coaches considered moving Fotu from defensive end to offensive tackle, but Fotu instead moved to defensive tackle and claimed the starting spot at that position. [7] At the end of his junior season, Fotu was named first-team all-Pac-12 Conference. [1]
Before his senior season, Fotu was named a preseason All-American by ESPN. [8] During the season, after a game against Cal, Fotu was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after recording a 13-yard sack. [9] He was named second-team midseason All-American by the Associated Press. [10]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Bench press | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5+3⁄8 in (1.97 m) | 330 lb (150 kg) | 34+1⁄4 in (0.87 m) | 10+5⁄8 in (0.27 m) | 5.15 s | 1.80 s | 3.00 s | 21 reps | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine [11] [12] | ||||||||||||
Fotu was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round with the 114th overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft. [13] He was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury on November 14, 2020, [14] and activated on December 5, 2020. [15] In Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Fotu recorded his first career sack on fellow rookie Jalen Hurts during the 33–26 win. [16]
Fotu entered the 2021 season as the backup nose tackle for the Cardinals. He played in 17 games with three starts, recording 19 tackles, three passes defensed, and a forced fumble. [17]
On March 14, 2024, Fotu signed with the New York Jets. [18] He was placed on injured reserve on August 27. [19] He was activated on October 14, but placed on injured reserve again on October 31. [20]
On March 25, 2025, Fotu signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. [21]
Three of Fotu's brothers have also played college football. [1] Before focusing on football, Fotu also played rugby. [1] Both of Fotu's parents were born in Tonga, but moved to America before Leki was born. [22]