BYU’s plan for replacing a 10-sack edge rusher is starting to look less like a one-man audition.
Nusi Taumoepeau is fully cleared after missing contact work in spring camp, rush ends coach Chad Kauha’aha’a told Deseret News. The sophomore is projected to handle the field-side edge role when BYU leaves its base package. Hunter Clegg is working at the boundary spot in the base defense, while Tausili Akana, Kendal Wall, Braxton Lindsey and Vincent Tautua remain in the larger competition.
Those assignments matter more than the loud sack goals attached to them. BYU improved from 20 sacks in 2024 to 30 last season, but Jack Kelly supplied 10 of the 2025 total before joining the New York Giants. The Cougars are not beginning their chase for 40 or 50 sacks at 30. They are beginning at 20 and deciding how to replace the third that walked out the door.
Taumoepeau’s clearance gives them a credible first answer.
The sack target needs honest math
Defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa told reporters BYU should finish around 50 sacks. Kauha’aha’a said his rush ends and outside linebackers should produce more than 25 by themselves, though the room has not set a formal number.
Both are preseason ambitions, not projections.
Fifty would require 20 more sacks than BYU recorded in 2025, a 67 percent jump. More than 25 from one position group would require those edges to nearly match last season’s entire team total. That can happen only if BYU gets production from several roles and creates enough obvious passing downs for the rush to arrive.
Kelly’s departure makes that distribution the story. His 10 sacks accounted for one-third of BYU’s 30. Remove them and the returning baseline is 20, exactly where the full team finished in 2024.
That is why a healthy Taumoepeau is useful without being a complete solution. BYU’s official player record credits him with nine appearances, one start, 12 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble as a freshman. He started the Pop-Tarts Bowl and made six tackles. There is enough evidence to see a rotation player. There is not enough to assign him Kelly’s production before September.
The next step is turning a promising bowl start and one college sack into weekly pressure.
BYU has split the edge job on purpose
Kauha’aha’a’s description gives fans a better map of the defense than a simple first-team list.
| Player | Current official listing | Public camp role or evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Nusi Taumoepeau | 6-foot-3, 242-pound sophomore defensive end | Fully cleared; projected at the field-side edge when BYU moves out of base |
| Hunter Clegg | 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore defensive end | Working at the boundary edge in the base package, with run defense emphasized |
| Isaiah Glasker | 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior linebacker | Handles the field-side role in BYU’s base package |
| Tausili Akana | 6-foot-3, 235-pound redshirt junior defensive end | Returning contributor after 3.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and six quarterback hurries in 2025 |
| Braxton Lindsey | 6-foot-3, 240-pound freshman defensive end | Named by Kauha’aha’a as a freshman who could surprise |
The split explains why “starter” can mislead here. Glasker may open at the field-side position in base while Taumoepeau takes that job in other groupings. Clegg’s value may show up on early downs when BYU has to set an edge against the run. Akana can rotate into pressure situations without appearing first in every package.
BYU is asking the position to do more than sprint at quarterbacks. Kauha’aha’a described a job that must defend the run, rush and drop into coverage. A player who wins only on third-and-long will not own every version of it.
That versatility also connects to coordinator Kelly Poppinga’s priorities. Poppinga told Deseret News he watches yards per carry, third-down conversion rate and red-zone touchdown rate rather than treating sacks as the defense’s only scoreboard. A rush that loses contain on first down will not get many clean third downs. A pressure that forces a hurried interception can matter more than a sack. The position needs havoc without becoming reckless.
Taumoepeau changes the rotation, not the standard
Taumoepeau’s freshman finish is the strongest reason to take this update seriously. Six tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in his first start gave BYU more than a spring-practice projection. His sack against TCU provided a small pass-rush receipt too.
Now the evaluation changes. Health was the first question after he missed spring contact. With Kauha’aha’a saying he is fully cleared, the useful questions become football questions.
Can Taumoepeau hold the field-side edge when an offense runs at his 242-pound frame? Can he pressure without vacating a coverage responsibility? Does his burst still show late in a drive? Can he produce against starting tackles rather than only win rotation snaps?
BYU does not need him to become Kelly in one month. It needs him to make the role playable enough that offenses cannot identify one pressure threat and slide protection toward it all afternoon.
The interior should help. Tanuvasa and Justin Kirkland give BYU two large defensive tackles who can occupy blocks and collapse space. Our defensive-front return analysis covered why Tanuvasa’s decision mattered to the whole structure. If the middle forces a quarterback to drift, an edge rusher does not have to win a perfect race around the tackle.
That is the route to replacing Kelly by committee: interior push, defined package roles and fresh edges arriving from both sides.
The freshman note is interesting, but keep it in August
Kauha’aha’a’s praise for Lindsey will get attention. The official BYU roster lists the Arkansas freshman at 240 pounds and credits him with 27 high school sacks. That is a real developmental profile, and the coach called him a potential surprise.
It is still one camp comment.
Lindsey has not played a college snap. Neither the praise nor his high school total establishes a September rotation. The same caution applies to Wall and Tautua. BYU has young bodies with size and pass-rush backgrounds, but camp depth becomes game depth only when those players handle run fits, coverage checks and special teams well enough to dress.
The encouraging part is that BYU does not need to force all of them onto the field at once. A healthy Taumoepeau, Clegg’s base role, Glasker’s versatility and Akana’s returning experience can buy the freshmen development time. If one young player earns situational snaps anyway, that is a bonus rather than an emergency repair.
What the third camp week should settle
The next scrimmage does not need to produce a sack parade. It needs to clarify who can repeat the whole job.
Watch whether Taumoepeau remains available through full contact, whether Clegg keeps the base assignment, and whether Akana converts his 2025 hurry production into finished plays. Watch which freshmen appear with the main rotation rather than only in individual-drill clips. Most of all, watch whether BYU’s defense creates third-and-long. Edge talent is much easier to see when the offense has to announce a pass.
The 50-sack talk can wait. BYU has a more immediate test: replace Kelly’s 10 without making one player carry all 10.
Taumoepeau’s clearance does not solve that problem. It makes the committee believable.
