Jason Fanaika

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Signed with Steelers yesterday. DE/OLB out of Utah who came into the league last season, and bounced around with several teams. Anyone know much about him?

[squidkid]

no need to draft a edge guy now

[BradshawsHairdresser]

no need to draft a edge guy now

[Real Deal Steel]

Good one! If three rb and three Qb's get drafted ahead of us, Colbert will have some great choices.

[RuthlessBurgher]

NFL.com draft profile:

Jason Fanaika (DE)
HT: 6'2" WT: 271LBS.
POSITION: DE
SCHOOL: Utah
ARM LENGTH: 32 5/8"
HANDS: 9 7/8"

Overview
This strong-side defensive end has played for both Utah State and Utah during his career, playing two seasons with the Aggies and then going on a church mission in Indianapolis before moving on to Salt Lake City. Fanaika (fan-NA-ee-ka) has been a high-motor producer for the Utes the past two years, starting eight games (9.5 tackles for loss, five sacks) in 2014 and then honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors as a senior (10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks).

Pro Day Results
40-yard dash: 4.84 seconds

COMBINE STATS
40 YARD DASH: 4.92 SEC
BENCH PRESS: 23 REPS
VERTICAL JUMP: 35.5 INCH
BROAD JUMP: 113.0 INCH
3 CONE DRILL: 7.06 SEC
20 YARD SHUTTLE: 4.39 SEC

ANALYSIS

Strengths
Comes off the snap as low man and is able to work under opponents pads and gain leverage at the point of attack. Has adequate strength in hands and upper body. Better speed in open space than expected. Asked to play with hand up and down on the edge. Has had success rushing passer when bumped inside. Uses arm*-over as pet move as pass rusher from interior spot and can gain quick advantage with it. Holds his own at point of attack. Able to unlock from block and transition into tackle readiness. Tackles with a heavy thud. Finds ways to finish once he gets pass protector on the ropes. Has long arms and is able to press them into extension.

Weaknesses
Out of shape and way too heavy in 2015. Play looked fatigued at times and extra weight hurt his quickness as a pass rusher. Slow twitch player with below average change of direction in space. Slow get* off and is unable to cause stress around the edge as a rusher. Square-*shouldered pass rusher with limited upper body and hip flexion to turn the corner on offensive tackles. Average foot quickness forces him to make lunging tackle attempts in space. Had nine missed and two broken tackle attempts in 2015.

Draft Projection
Round 7 or priority free agent

Bottom Line
Will be 24 years old when NFL training camps begin and appears to be a player without a go*-to play strength or an obvious NFL position. Fanaika doesn’t have the twitch or overall talent to be a dangerous NFL pass rusher, but he has some power at the point of attack and might be able to make a team looking for a strong base end who can set the edge. Regardless, it may be in his best interest to slim down to where he was in 2014 when he was more disruptive.

-Lance Zierlein

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Wonder if they might be considering switching him over to OG? According to an article cited on Steel City Insider, he's extremely strong.

[pittpete]

Finally our 1st quality big FA signing this year!!!!

[squidkid]

Finally our 1st quality big FA signing this year!!!!

hope it doesnt screw up our cap in the future

[Oviedo]

NFL.com draft profile:

Jason Fanaika (DE)
HT: 6'2" WT: 271LBS.
POSITION: DE
SCHOOL: Utah
ARM LENGTH: 32 5/8"
HANDS: 9 7/8"

Overview
This strong-side defensive end has played for both Utah State and Utah during his career, playing two seasons with the Aggies and then going on a church mission in Indianapolis before moving on to Salt Lake City. Fanaika (fan-NA-ee-ka) has been a high-motor producer for the Utes the past two years, starting eight games (9.5 tackles for loss, five sacks) in 2014 and then honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors as a senior (10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks).

Pro Day Results
40-yard dash: 4.84 seconds

COMBINE STATS
40 YARD DASH: 4.92 SEC
BENCH PRESS: 23 REPS
VERTICAL JUMP: 35.5 INCH
BROAD JUMP: 113.0 INCH
3 CONE DRILL: 7.06 SEC
20 YARD SHUTTLE: 4.39 SEC

ANALYSIS

Strengths
Comes off the snap as low man and is able to work under opponents pads and gain leverage at the point of attack. Has adequate strength in hands and upper body. Better speed in open space than expected. Asked to play with hand up and down on the edge. Has had success rushing passer when bumped inside. Uses arm*-over as pet move as pass rusher from interior spot and can gain quick advantage with it. Holds his own at point of attack. Able to unlock from block and transition into tackle readiness. Tackles with a heavy thud. Finds ways to finish once he gets pass protector on the ropes. Has long arms and is able to press them into extension.

Weaknesses
Out of shape and way too heavy in 2015. Play looked fatigued at times and extra weight hurt his quickness as a pass rusher. Slow twitch player with below average change of direction in space. Slow get* off and is unable to cause stress around the edge as a rusher. Square-*shouldered pass rusher with limited upper body and hip flexion to turn the corner on offensive tackles. Average foot quickness forces him to make lunging tackle attempts in space. Had nine missed and two broken tackle attempts in 2015.

Draft Projection
Round 7 or priority free agent

Bottom Line
Will be 24 years old when NFL training camps begin and appears to be a player without a go*-to play strength or an obvious NFL position. Fanaika doesn’t have the twitch or overall talent to be a dangerous NFL pass rusher, but he has some power at the point of attack and might be able to make a team looking for a strong base end who can set the edge. Regardless, it may be in his best interest to slim down to where he was in 2014 when he was more disruptive.

-Lance Zierlein

Not exactly a confidence builder, but it took James Harrison until his late 20s to put it all together. Hopefully he has been getting into shape.

[Slapstick]

Eh, if he even makes the roster and can develop into a contributor like Cobi Hamilton, I'll be ecstatic...

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Sounds like a camp body to compete for the backup LOLB spot.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Sounds like a camp body to compete for the backup LOLB spot.

Yeah, pretty much. And the Steelers transactions page shows that Fanaika was signed back on Valentine's Day along with several other prospects to bring to camp, such as Mel Blount's kid and Bruce Matthews' kid, so I'm not sure why this kid's name popped up on it's own this week.

[Real Deal Steel]

Ruth, the more I look and do some homework, the more I'm liking your mock draft.