Suamataia named freshman All-American by The Athletic

SAN FRANCISCO — Postseason awards keep rolling in for BYU offensive right tackle Kingsley Suamataia, who was named to The Athletic Freshman All-America Second Team.  

Previously, Suamataia was honored as a second team Freshman All-American by College Sports News and was also named College Football Network All-Independent First Team Offense. 

A transfer from the University of Oregon, Suamataia started 11 games at right tackle for the Cougars as a redshirt freshman in 2022. The 6-6, 325-pound lineman from Orem, Utah, was also selected by CFN as a Mid-Season Freshman All-American. 

Suamataia played a key role on an offensive line that helped amass 5,286 yards of total offense, including 3,199 yards passing and 2,087 yards rushing during the 2022 regular season. 

Since Kalani Sitake took over as head coach of the Cougars in 2016, BYU has had at least one player named freshman All-American each season, including Thomas Shoaf (1016), Matt Bushman (2017), James Empey (2018), Payton Wilgar (2019), Isaac Rex (2020), Campbell Barrington (2021), and Suamataia, Kody Epps and Micah Harper (2022). 

Empey graduated from BYU in 2021 and is a current offensive lineman on the Miami Dolphins active roster. Bushman was with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022 before a broken clavicle sidelined the NFL second-year pro.