A Cameroon-born, Ottawa-raised defensive tackle, Rene Konga went from a Rutgers rotational piece to a second-team All-ACC lineman at Louisville before signing with Miami as an undrafted free agent.
Rene Konga's football story started far from a college campus, on the youth fields of Ottawa after his family moved there from Cameroon. He spent four years working his way up the depth chart at Rutgers before a transfer to Louisville turned him into one of the ACC's better interior linemen, and he joined the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2026.
Path to the league
Konga was born in Cameroon and moved to Ottawa, Ontario as a child, where he starred at Colonel By Secondary School and was named league defensive MVP. He redshirted his first year at Rutgers in 2020 and spent four seasons there as a rotational lineman before transferring to Louisville for his final two college years.
Career highlights
At Rutgers, Konga posted modest but improving numbers, including a sack and two tackles for loss in his final season there. His move to Louisville paid off in 2025, when he started all 12 games and posted 29 tackles, five for loss, 1.5 sacks and a team-best six pass breakups, earning second-team All-ACC honors.
2025 season recap
Konga's senior year at Louisville was his best, with his Pro Football Focus defensive grade of 86.4 ranking first among power-conference interior defenders. Despite the strong tape, he went undrafted in April 2026 before signing with Miami as a free agent, where he now wears No. 95.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Rene Konga
- 49ers Webzone: 49ers meet with Louisville DT Rene Konga as 2026 NFL Draft nears
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- injuredReserveOrOut
- College
- Louisville
- Hometown
- Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Age
- 23
- Status
- day-to-day
