After Limited Playing Time, Baylor Nose Tackle Samu Taumanupepe Plans to Transfer

Baylor rising redshirt junior nose tackle Samu Taumanupepe is planning on entering the transfer portal, SicEm365 has learned.

After arriving from Texas A&M last offseason, the 6-foot-3, 376-pound Taumanupepe was expected to fill a major hole in the middle of Baylor’s defense, but instead, he missed all of spring camp with an injury and then barely could get onto the field in the fall.

Taumanupepe totaled just 27 snaps this season and one tackle, with a season-high 10 snaps coming in Baylor’s 48-45 double-overtime win over SMU. He tallied only 10 snaps across conference play.

Taumanupepe was a three-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class and chose Texas A&M over offers from Miami, Oregon, TCU, Texas Tech, Colorado, Kansas and Houston, among others.

The transfer portal window this offseason runs from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16.