SALT LAKE CITY — Being multifaceted runs in the Kaufusi blood.
Corbin Kaufusi played three years each as a center on the BYU basketball team as well as a defensive end for the Cougar football team.
His older brother, Bronson Kaufusi, played both football and basketball during his Cougar days as well.
Now, Corbin Kaufusi is making another transition. The 6-foot-9, 275-pounder signed last week to the New York Jets’ practice squad — Bronson is also on the team’s practice squad — and moved from his customary defensive end position to the offensive line.
Corbin Kaufusi, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the New Orleans Saints this offseason before being waived prior to the regular season, told the New York Daily News he played on BYU’s offensive line in spring ball prior to leaving on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Upon his return, having grown three inches, he moved to defensive end. Kaufusi is optimistic about the move to offense with the Jets.
“They always say offensive linemen are the smartest guys on the field,” Kaufusi told the Daily News’ Manish Mehta. “I think it’s being smart and patient whereas defensive linemen are all aggression. You’re coming off and you’re just hitting someone. So, it’s finding the balance of that as an offensive lineman. Yeah, you want to still hit people but you don’t want to overdo it. You don’t want to overplay the position.”
If things don’t work out in the NFL, Kaufusi was also selected in the XFL draft by the St. Louis BattleHawks the same day he signed with New York.
“I literally got a text from someone else saying congrats on getting drafted by the XFL,” Kaufusi told the Daily News. “And they didn’t know that I had just signed here. So, it’s been a whirlwind. But it’s kind of fun.”