Brandon Matich’s opinion of Sam Taimani can be pared down to a pair of moments.
The first came during Taimani’s freshman season at Salt Lake City East High School in 2014. Today, Taimani is a 6-foot-2, 322-pound UW redshirt freshman defensive lineman.
But roughly five years and 140 pounds ago, he was a silky 185-pound wide receiver.
“He was lean enough and tall enough and fast enough and athletic enough to play wideout, and he did a great job,” said Matich, East’s varsity head coach. “In fact, I think he had a 98-yard touchdown reception against our biggest rival, Highland.