Atunaisa Mahe, a 6-foot-1, 258-pound defensive tackle prospect out of West Jordan High School in West Jordan, Utah, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for BYU. Mahe committed to the Cougars soon after he was offered back in April and stayed faithful to that commitment since that time.
Mahe is not rated by 247Sports, but he did receive a two-star rating from Scout.com. The Cougars were the only offer Mahe received.
He had 38 tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks during his senior season at West Jordan. In addition to football, Mahe also played rugby at West Jordan and was a pretty impressive powerlifter for the Jaguars.
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Mahe has good strength and uses his hand well to fight off blocks. He has excellent mobility for a man his size, a good motor, and show good pursuit versus both the pass and run. He will likely need to add about 20 pounds to play the defensive tackle position at the D-I level, but if he can add the bulk and keep his mobility he could develop into a decent defensive lineman for the Cougars.
We will have to wait until 2018 to see Mahe on the field for the Cougars, as he has plans to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's still unclear if BYU plans to run a 4-3 or 3-4 defense, but the new coaching staff seems to have already put a recruiting focus on improving depth along the defensive line. Mahe will be a good piece to add to the depth when he returns.
Here are Mahe's highlights: