Spencer Fano is an offensive lineman from Utah who is ranked No. 16 on my NFL Draft Top 100 Big Board. This comprehensive scouting report analyzes Fano’s draft potential, current mock draft trends, and where he ranks among the top prospects.
Spencer Fano’s NFL Draft Potential
Spencer Fano has the sheer upside and raw talent to ensure that he’ll go early in the 2026 NFL Draft. The question is where exactly he falls, and where teams project him to play. Fano started 11 games at left tackle as a true freshman at Utah, then shifted over to the right side in 2024 when Caleb Lomu took on the blindside. Fano has been entrenched on the right side since then, and he’s grown into one of the best blockers in college football.
Despite towering at 6’6″, 302 pounds, one of Fano’s greatest strengths is his knee bend and leverage acquisition. He can acquire proper pad level and stay balanced while matching defenders laterally, and it helps that he has truly hyper-elite recovery athleticism and lateral burst. Fano’s recovery range can be deadly for apex runners, and in the run game, he can use his lethal acceleration to channel massive amounts of raw power and displacement force. He’s a people-mover and a mauler, and it shows in how often Utah runs behind him to get crucial chain conversions.
Fano is an S-tier athlete with a few select stylistic safeguards, such as his proficiency playing square, his natural leverage acquisition, and his flexibility to attune power drive. That said, he still has areas of his game he needs to refine. His anchor footwork is poor, and Texas Tech’s EDGE duo exploited that part of his game. He also lacks a traditional kick on his pass set, and isn’t always able to achieve proper depth or positioning off the snap as a result.
Fano’s technical inconsistencies — combined with his penchant for pile-driving defenders and paving open space — has caused some to theorize that he might project better at guard in the NFL. I’m of the mind he should be given a chance to succeed at tackle first. If he can keep fine-tuning his anchor and kick footwork, he has the dancing athleticism, natural leverage acquisition and flexibility, and stifling hand power to be a star.
CFB Week 9 Update
The Utes dominated Colorado 53-7 in Week 9, and Spencer Fano was one of the main contributors on the offensive line for a running game that amassed 423 yards in total. Fano has always been known as a road-grader in the ground game, and he once again distinguished himself as such against an undisciplined and disillusioned Colorado defensive front. Fano’s explosiveness and range off the snap can overwhelm, and his energized motion aids in power load and exertion.
CFB Week 10 Update
Fano’s run blocking range and physicality was once again a highlight in Utah’s 45-14 domination of Cincinnati — but the high-level 2026 NFL Draft prospect also showed off promising glimpses of growth in the pass blocking phase. In particular, Fano’s anchor footwork against attempted power rushes looked vastly improved versus the Bearcats. Fano has routinely relied on his lateral athleticism and matching athleticism to keep defenders within his frame, but he’s sometimes struggled when defenders start to drive through him.
This past week, however, Fano made a point to hinge his base back and drop the anchor against power, and he largely succeeded in snuffing out displacement. If he can stay consistent with anchoring at the right time, it could be a securing factor for his first-round appeal.
Where Is Fano Being Selected Most Often in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator?
Fano currently holds the No. 16 overall rank among prospects, placing him among the first-round caliber prospects. His most recent Average Draft Position (ADP) of 15.0 as of October 27 reflects that he is typically being selected in the first round.
This small gap between rank and ADP suggests he’s consistently valued among evaluators, even amid fluctuations in player evaluations at this stage of the draft cycle.
Users controlling the Seattle Seahawks have been the team that selected Fano the most frequently over the past week, accounting for 1.4% of their picks across all seven rounds. Notably, 15.0% of the Seattle Seahawks’ first-round selections over that same period were used on Fano, underscoring users’ strong preference for him as a potential immediate-impact offensive lineman.
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Where Does Spencer Fano Rank Amongst Other NFL Draft Prospects?
Fano is currently ranked No. 16 overall in my October 2026 NFL Draft Big Board. Among OL prospects, Fano ranks 1st at the position, making him the top-rated OL in this draft class. As a first-round caliber prospect, Fano is among the top-tier players in this draft class.
Want to see how we rank all the draft prospects in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator? Check out our NFL Draft Prospect Rankings page, which includes more than 750 prospects.
