Fall 15: Most pivotal players for BYU football in fall camp 2026: Paki Finau
Aaron Cornia, BYU Photo
Washington transfer Paki Finau participates during spring practice drills. March 10, 2026BYU football’s fall practice session is set to get underway during the first week of August and with it will come a lot of reporting on the preparations for the coming 2026 football season. Several players will receive focus throughout the month of August with more than several of them likely to prove pivotal for the Cougar’s overall success this season.
In the lead-up to the fall football practice session we’ll be previewing 15 such players whose contribution and progress throughout August will very likely play big in determining how successful of a team BYU proves to be in 2026.
Paki Finau
6-5 310 RS-So. OL
Hesperia, Calif.
Left tackle is an extremely important position on any football team. The responsibility to protect a quarterback’s blindside is a big one, and fielding a player who can shut down the outside rush and thereby disallowing pressures can enhance the overall passing game considerably.
So beginning the season without a proven commodity at left tackle can be a shaky prospect, and with BYU graduating left tackle Isaiah Jatta after last season, effectively finding an apt replacement should play very pivotal this coming season.
Enter Paki Finau, who transferred from Washington during the offseason after seeing good experience with the Huskies.
The left tackle position was poised to be an open competition throughout spring and perhaps into the fall camp session, although the performance of Finau largely preempted that prospect.
“Paki is playing with the first team right now,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick last spring. “We tried to recruit him in high school. We loved him. We feel really great about having him now.”
And that’s a good thing, as BYU will enter the fall practice session with Finau standing as the team’s starting left tackle with others given at least some opportunity to beat him out.
Even so, how Finau fares throughout the season, assuming he hangs on to the starting spot, is of question and should play a big part in the Cougar’s overall success this coming season.
