With the Aggies looking for interior line help, they quickly targeted Faaiu, who played in 11 games last year for the Utes. More importantly, he started the final eight games of the season at center, an area the Aggies have especially wanted to add personnel.
The Utes had trouble offensively in 2023, with starting quarterback Cam Rising missing the entire year with an injury he suffered in 2022. Even as Utah juggled quarterbacks, the Utes were significantly better than the Aggies in terms of protecting their signal callers, ranking 52nd in sacks allowed compared to A&M’s ranking of 86th.
With incumbent starter Bryce Foster coming off a subpar year and missing spring practice due to track obligations, A&M has used a number of players at center this spring, including starting guard Mark Nabou and 2023 4-star guard T.J. Shanahan. Offensive line coach Adam Cushing clearly identified center as a position where A&M needed to improve, and Faaiu will be expected — at the least — to compete with Foster for the starting job.
Even though Faaiu had other trips planned, his NIL agent, Alex Beglinger of Disruptive Sports, told ESPN that those visits will not occur.