On Saturday, former San Jose State Defensive End Viliami Fehoko was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round at pick 129 during the 2023 NFL Draft.
Fehoko led the Mountain West with 19 tackles for loss and was awarded the 2022 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Fehoko is the first Spartan to be selected in the draft since former SJSU tight end Josh Oliver was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019.
“We are so proud of Junior Fehoko and his journey and choosing a local kid and choosing to stay home developing our program,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan in a SJSU YouTube video.
He attended SJSU’s 2023 NFL Pro Day last month, where a record-breaking 45 scouts came out to see Fehoko participate in workouts.
Fehoko was chosen for the Sporting News All America Second Team and Pro Football Focus All America Second Team in 2022.
Teammates of Fehoko gathered on Saturday where they watched the Cowboys select the defensive tackle from Palo Alto native get drafted.
“Everyone here at Spartan football was going crazy when it got announced like the whole building erupted! It was a really cool moment,” Brennan said.
Fehoko finished his career at SJSU with 191 tackles, 46 tackles for loss, 23 sacks and 14 pass deflections in 48 career games.
He was fifth in the country with a career-high 19 tackles for loss and 17th in the country with a career-high 9 sacks for the 2022 season.
Fehoko is second in SJSU history in tackles for a loss, eighth in single season tackles for a loss and fifth in career sacks.
He joins a Cowboys’ defensive line that includes Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, both who were named to the Pro Bowl this past season.
“Everybody in the Bay Area is proud of him and the Dallas Cowboys got an incredible competitor, playmaker and one of the most fun people to be around,” Brennan said in the same video. “Today is a great day for Junior and SJSU.”
