Junior Tafuna

Defensive Tackle · Utah

A former Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year at Utah who slipped through the 2025 draft and is now digging in on Houston's interior line.

Junior Tafuna is a Houston Texans defensive tackle who arrived as a highly regarded Utah product that many expected to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead he went unselected and signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent, working his way from waived-and-re-signed practice squad depth toward a firmer roster spot.

★ Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year (2021)

★ Second-team All-Pac-12 (2021, 2022)

★ 108 career tackles at Utah

Path to the league

Born Timote 'Junior' Maile Tafuna, he starred at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah, before committing to the Utah Utes. Widely projected to be drafted, possibly as early as day three, he instead went unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft and signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent.

Career highlights

Tafuna broke out in 2021, his first season on the field for Utah, recording 33 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks en route to Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and second-team All-Pac-12 honors. He repeated as a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2022 after starting all 14 games, finishing his college career with 108 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.

2025 season recap

Tafuna was waived by Houston in final roster cuts on August 26, 2025, but landed on the practice squad. He signed a reserve/futures contract with the Texans on January 20, 2026, putting him in position to compete for a defensive tackle role in 2026.