Junior Tafuna
Timote "Junior" Maile Tafuna is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He played college football for the Utah Utes.
Tafuna attended Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah. He was rated as a three-star recruit and committed to play college football for the Utah Utes.
College career
Tafuna did not appear in any games for the Utes in 2020. In week 11 of the 2021 season, he notched a career-high nine tackles in a win over 2021 [Arizona Wildcats football team|Arizona]. In 2021, Tafuna totaled 33 tackles with five and a half being for a loss, four and a half sacks, a fumble recovery, and a pass deflection. He was named the Pac-12 Conference defensive freshman of the year and was named second-team all-Pac-12. In 2022, Tafuna started all 14 games, notching 27 tackles with three and a half being for a loss, a sack, an interception, and a pass deflection, while once again being named second-team all-Pac-12. In week 10 of the 2023 season, he recorded his first career forced fumble, which he also recovered against 2023 [Oregon Ducks football team|Oregon]. Tafuna finished the year with 17 tackles with three being for a loss, a sack and a half, two pass deflections, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Tafuna was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent on May 9, 2025. He was waived on August 26 as part of final roster cuts, and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 20, 2026, he signed a reserve/futures contract.