Nebraska guard Fonoti will enter NFL draft

Advertiser Staff

For the second consecutive year, Nebraska will lose its top offensive lineman early to the NFL.

Again, the player is from Hawai'i.

Cornhuskers All-America guard Toniu Fonoti, 20, a 6-foot-4, 325-pounder from Kahuku High, told ESPN.com he will bypass his final season of college eligibility and enter the NFL draft.

The year before, center Dominic Raiola, a St. Louis School athlete, left after his junior year to turn pro. He was drafted by Detroit in the second round.

"It was a hard decision, one where I wanted a lot of input and advice from my parents," Fonoti told ESPN.com.

In 2001, Fonoti recorded a school-record 201 "pancake" blocks, which is putting an opposing player on his back.

Fonoti is rated as the second-best underclassman offensive lineman by Mel Kiper Jr., author of NFL Draft Report and an ESPN draft analyst.

He "simply overpowers the opposition on a weekly basis," Kiper said in his report.