2026 draft scouting first look: Miami OL Francis Mauigoa

Next up in the preliminary draft evaluations for 2026 ahead of the 2025 college football season is a player who calls to mind a very appropriate song. Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa and his game film are best consumed with Metallica's "Seek and Destroy" cranked in the background.

Mauigoa embodies the spirit of the song with his power chord-like arm extension and shoulder lock. He thrives as Miami's right tackle at attacking the man directly across from him, quickly firing out and using his strong grip and very impressive upper-body strength to control the situation. He doesn't have but average arm length, and coupled with his inconsistent reaction time and hand placement, Mauigoa seems almost certain to be destined for right guard duty at the next level.

The biggest areas for improvement entering the 2025 college season are his initial hand placement and staying balanced and squared with his shoulders and hips aligned. Mauigoa's initial punch can be devastating, but sometimes he's too high, others too wide, still others too narrow. Craftier power rushers like Ashton Gillotte were able to set him up and swat away the ill punches, though Mauigoa did have some nice reps in that battle, too.

Mauigoa made the Bruce Feldman "Freaks" list for his impressively explosive athleticism, and that does show on tape. His quickness out of his stance in any direction belies his thick 315-pound frame. He can certainly seek and destroy in space in the run game, which portends well for the seeming inevitable move inside at the next level. He will reach outside his frame and compromise his balance when he can't reach his blocking mark with that first step, however, notably in pass protection. It leads to penalties (16 in two years) and whiffs to his inside shoulder.

One definite thing to watch is the change in quarterback behind Mauigoa at Miami in 2025. He's gone from protecting No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward to the less athletic and less patient Carson Beck, who during his time at Georgia wasn't as cognizant of his drop points or escape angles from pressure as Ward was in 2024.

Mauigoa is a prospect whose draft stock could go in either direction in 2025, and a big rise into the top 30 or a big fall out of the top 150 seems equally possible. Just judging him in the 2025 NFL Draft class, I wouldn't have had Mauigoa in the top 100, but again--the potential is there.

This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: Francis Mauigoa: First draft look at the Miami Hurricanes OT