Arizona football recruiting: Wildcats land Mater Dei defensive lineman Austin Faoliu

The Arizona Wildcats now have 27 commitments for the 2017 recruiting class, after 2-star defensive lineman Austin Faoliu announced his pledge to Rich Rodriguez via his Twitter account:

Arizona has a glaring need for big bodies on the defensive line, and Faoliu can deliver just that with his 6-foot-3, 285-pound frame. He hails from Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, CA), which is the same school as current 3-star safety commit Xavier Bell. Mater Dei is currently ranked 3rd in the nation according to MaxPreps. Faoliu had offers to Colorado State, Hawaii and Nevada, according to Scout.

This commitment is a bit of a surprise. The staff just offered him on Sept. 26, ending his recruitment process just two days later. I had not been able to get in contact with him about his recruitment, so it will be interesting to see how his decision process went down.

Many recruits, including Xavier Bell and Edgar Burrola in this class alone, pounced fast on their Arizona offers.

Arizona now has three defensive linemen committed in the 2017 class, which includes Matt Leo and Elijah Watson. There are other options as well, with Bryce Brand and Kylan Wilborn also having bigger bodies that can translate to the line.

However, it should be noted that Leo is coming off an official visit to Iowa State.

Fauliu has 13 tackles and a fumble recovery on the season as he reaches the halfway point of his senior season. His senior year highlights are below: