Viliami Fehoko
Viliami Taopa Fehoko Jr. is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans and was named the 2022 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Fehoko was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft and has also played for the Washington Commanders.
Early life
Fehoko was born on December 16, 1999, in Stanford, California, and raised in East Palo Alto, California. He attended Saint Francis High School, where he played as a tight end for their football team. As a senior, he received All-West Coast Athletic League, Bay Area News Group first-team All-Bay Area and San Francisco Chronicle honorable-mention All-Metro honors.He also was part of the East Palo Alto Razorbacks rugby club. On February 3, 2018, Fehoko committed to San Jose State University.
College career
As a true freshman in 2018, he was converted from a tight end into a defensive end. He appeared in 4 conference games, before being redshirted. He tallied 5 tackles, with three coming against the University of Wyoming.As a redshirt freshman in 2019, he was named the starter at left defensive end, recording 44 tackles, one sack, and 4 pass deflections.
As a sophomore in 2020, the season was reduced to 8 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He started all 8 games, collecting 36 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, one pass deflection, and one fumble recovered. He had 6 tackles and one sack against the University of New Mexico. He was named first-team All-Mountain West for the first time in his career.
As a junior in 2021, he started all 12 games, registering 37 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and deflected six passes. He had 7 tackles against the University of Wyoming. He was named first-team All-Mountain West for the second time.
As a senior in 2022, he started in all 12 games, posting a career-high 69 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one deflected pass. He had 7 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery against Fresno State University. He made 12 tackles, 2 sacks and one forced fumble against the University of Nevada. He had 5 tackles and two sacks against Colorado State University. He was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Mountain West for the third straight year.
He finished his career with 191 tackles, 46 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, 14 pass deflections, 5 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries in 48 games played.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Fehoko was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. In training camp, he was tried at defensive tackle, but struggled with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury on November 18, 2023. He was activated on January 3, 2024. He didn't play a single snap in the regular season, spending 10 games on the inactive list and 7 on injured reserve.In 2024, he began training camp at defensive tackle, but was switched back to defensive end before the start of the preseason games. He couldn't move up on the depth chart despite the fact that the Cowboys lost defensive ends Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. in free agency. Fehoko was waived by the Cowboys with an injury designation on August 26, 2024. He was waived from the injured reserve on September 3, 2024.
Washington Commanders
On November 26, 2024, Fehoko signed with the practice squad of the Washington Commanders. He reunited with head coach Dan Quinn, who was the defensive coordinator with the Cowboys.On January 28, 2025, he signed a reserve/future contract with the Commanders. Fehoko was waived/injured on August 11, and reverted to injured reserve the following day after going unclaimed. He was released with an injury settlement a week later.