HOUSTON – When veteran defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi was contemplating where to go for his next NFL employment, he was looking for several key things beyond his contract.
After competing against the Texans for two seasons in the division for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fatukasi signed a one-year, $5.125 million contract with the defending AFC South champions after being released in March two years into a three-year, $30 million contract.
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Ultimately, Fatukasi recognized what the Texans are building after engineering a turnaround last season and winning one playoff game.
“It is a great environment, a place where I can really grow and become even more of a dominant player,” Fatukasi said. “It is a place where I can still be a student of the game, learn from the guys around me, coaches, teammates. It is a really great environment so that is what made me come here.”
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Since joining the Texans, Fatukasi has been establishing himself as a heavyweight force at the line of scrimmage. Fatukasi is an athletic, strong, 6-foot-4, 318-pound former New York Jets sixth-round draft pick from Connecticut who has recorded 163 career tackles, 4 1/2 sacks and 19 quarterback hits.
His deal includes a $3.125 million signing bonus and $4.625 million total guaranteed with a $1.5 million base salary guaranteed for skill, injury and salary cap as well as up to $500,000 available maximum in per game active roster bonuses at a rate of $29,411 each game active.
Fatukasi had 24 tackles, three for losses and no pass deflections last season. His role, beyond stuffing the run and rushing the passer, is to clog up the middle and keep blockers away from linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Christian Harris.
“Right now, just to be where my feet are at,” Fatukasi said. “My sole job is to be a contributor to the team in the sense of doing my job, making sure that I am one-of-one, and sharpen my teammates as my teammates are sharpening me. That is pretty much the biggest contribution I can give right now, taking it one day at a time.
“That is the DNA of any lineman across the league. Particularly about us, our job as interior guys is to be aggressive, to the aggressor, to be the dominant person, to get off the ball, shoot your hands with intent. So, those are the things we try to craft and sharpen each day, day to day. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so we will continue to grow in that matter.”
Fatukasi is part of a talented defensive line that includes Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr., the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year last season, and is among several newcomers, including four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter, veteran defensive end Denico Autry and fellow defensive tackle Tim Settle Jr.
“Really smart players, really intuitive with their craft so I get to learn from them, take some stuff from them that I can add to my game,” Fatukasi said. “It has been really enlightening working with these guys, there are things that I can figure out about myself though them, things that they teach me about. It has been pretty impactful for me.”
For Fatukasi, 29, there’s a comfort zone within coach DeMeco Ryans’ aggressive 4-3 scheme. It’s the same system he was a part of with the Jets where he played for Robert Saleh, the former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, who was replaced with the NFC West franchise when Ryans was promoted after Saleh was hired by New York. He played for Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke with the Jets.
“I have played in this defense before with New York, but one thing that really stood out to me the most was that I feel like was the place that I could come to and really keep ascending as a player and really keep growing,” Fatukasi said. “Coach DeMeco and all of the coaching staff, everybody from top to bottom, really promotes the idea and ideology of growth. It is something I felt like I really needed, if you want to continue to ascend as a player that is the environment that you want to be around and that is what I am really happy about..”
At the heart of what Fatukasi does is the gritty, often unrecognized battle in the trenches. It’s his responsibility to hold strong at the point of attack.
“I think the more important thing is, are you doing your job?” Fatukasi said. “Are you contributing to the team and that are you not hurting your team? And are you bringing out the best version of yourself on a day-to-day basis? Do stats matter? Yeah, of course they do.
“But at the end of the day, can we turn on the film and say that this guy is doing what he needs to do? I think that is the most important part about this game and being an interior guy is just not being selfish. That is detrimental to the team, that is detrimental to your brothers, but being effective in your job in the way that you are supposed to do things.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com