Rene Konga

Rene Konga (born November 14, 2002) is a Cameroonian-Canadian professional American football defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Louisville Cardinals.

Early life Konga was born on November 14, 2002, in Cameroon, before moving to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, when he was young. He initially played basketball before starting to play football at age 13. Konga played football at Colonel By Secondary School, earning league defensive MVP honors in 2019 while accounting for 21 offensive touchdowns. In high school, he was used at running back, defensive end, and placekicker. A three-star prospect, he committed to play college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

College career Konga redshirted as a true freshman at Rutgers in 2020, then posted one tackle in two games in 2021, followed by five tackles, a tackle-for-loss (TFL), a sack and two passes defended in nine games in 2022. Konga transferred to the Louisville Cardinals for the 2024 season. He posted 20 tackles, three TFLs and two sacks while starting six games in 2024. In his last year, 2025, Konga started all 12 games he appeared in and tallied 29 tackles, five TFLs, 1.5 sacks and six passes defended, earning second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors. Konga participated in The American Bowl and the 2026 Senior Bowl.

Professional career

In addition to being an NFL draft prospect, Konga was ranked as the third-best prospect eligible for the 2026 CFL draft. Konga was drafted in the sixth round (48th overall) in the 2026 CFL draft by the Ottawa Redblacks. Konga went undrafted in the 2026 NFL draft and signed a free agent deal with the Miami Dolphins the following day.