DT
Redshirt Senior+
UCLA transfer with 15 tackles and one sack in 2025. He started Penn State's first four games of 2026 and recorded seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss through Wisconsin.
Siale Taupaki is a veteran defensive tackle who transferred from UCLA to Penn State for 2026. Penn State lists him at 6-foot-4 and 326 pounds. That official measurement replaces the shorter height previously shown in this profile.
At UCLA in 2025, Taupaki played 12 games with one start, recording 15 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and a fumble recovery. His previous-school line gives context for the interior rotation without treating those tackles as Penn State production. Penn State's player biography then lists four starts and seven tackles through Wisconsin in 2026, including 1.5 tackles for loss.
Those early Penn State starts establish more than a generic preseason competition: Taupaki has been part of the first-unit defensive front. A four-game sample still does not predict his final season totals or settle every package assignment. The distinction between his UCLA season and the Penn State starts helps readers follow the defensive-tackle reset without inflating either record.
Sources checked October 7, 2026