Olu Fashanu Draft Profile | Penn State, OT Scouting Report

Many thought he’d declare in 2023, but Penn State OT Olu Fashanu is back to pace the 2024 NFL Draft class. What does his updated scouting report say about his projection, and is he still in the mix to lead the OT position in a stronger positional class? Let’s find out.

Olu Fashanu Draft Profile and Measurements

• Height: 6’6″
• Weight: 321 pounds
• Position: Offensive Tackle
• School: Penn State
• Current Year: Redshirt Junior

Jan. 1, 2022. That was the first start of Fashanu’s collegiate career. It was a bowl game substitution in relief of outgoing senior Rasheed Walker. Fashanu played his first game at left tackle against an SEC opponent — and he put up some very impressive reps.

It was just one game, of course. But Fashanu would later deliver on his promise and put together an All-American campaign in 2022, his first full year as a starter. He could have declared for the 2023 NFL Draft.

MORE: 2024 NFL Draft Big Board

However, Fashanu — an academic All-Big Ten honoree majoring in Supply Chain and Information Systems — chose to return to school and get his degree.

Despite being a fourth-year player, Fashanu is still just 20 years old and will be 21 years old for most of his rookie season. He’s still incredibly young, and yet, he already has the polish of a blue-chip NFL prospect.

Olu Fashanu Scouting Report

Strengths

• Tall, strong, and sturdy frame with excellent length and overall proportions.
• Amped-up mover for his size with excellent foot speed and short-area athleticism.
• Has stifling play strength at contact, quickly stalling rushers confined within his frame.
• Possesses the elite power capacity to easily displace defenders and drive them upfield.
• Easily reloads and re-exerts to maximize power on punches and has superb torque.
• Has the torso flexibility to recoil and quickly absorb initial shockwaves at contact.
• Has extremely natural leverage acquisition and knee bend, sustaining leverage on reps.
• Extremely well-balanced and well-leveraged in pass protection, with tremendous feel.

• Has a very stable blocking axis and effortlessly maintains the center of gravity on recovery.
• Can sequentially extend to lock out and gather opponents when matching to the apex.
• Has excellent timing and patience with extensions and maintains upper-lower synergy.
• Can bait rushers into going vertical with angular sets, then adjust and match vertically.
• Employs quick and controlled feet and can adjust his tempo to match rushers.
• Alert and unbothered blocker with lightning-quick reaction speed on stunts.
• Routinely capitalizes on imbalanced defenders and can finish opponents in the turf.

Weaknesses

• Doesn’t quite have elite range or change-of-direction in space as a moving blocker.
• At times, grip strength doesn’t always prevent defenders from working across face.
• Sometimes two-hand extensions are high, allowing rushers to shrink under the frame.
• Occasionally struggles to fully unhinge in recovery and can be late with recalibration.
• Sometimes fails to reset his feet while reacting and responding to stunts.
• Occasionally leans back past his center of gravity when tracking in pass pro.
• At times, drifts too tall as a moving blocker and fails to sustain pulling blocks.

Current Draft Projection and Summary

Olu Fashanu is my preliminary OT1 of the 2024 NFL Draft class and a blue-chip prospect in the top-five overall. In fact, on my board, he would have been the OT1 of the 2023 NFL Draft class over Paris Johnson Jr., Anton Harrison, and Darnell Wright if he had declared.

Although Fashanu has competition with JC Latham, Joe Alt, and others, he’s in the driver’s seat for the top positional spot.

At 6’6″, 321 pounds, Fashanu has the most complete marriage of physical tools and operational utility in the entire 2024 NFL Draft class. He’s a long, strong, and powerful blocker who also brings high-end short-area mobility, rare recovery athleticism, a near-unshakable center of gravity, and the torquing capacity and core strength to finish blocks.

Meanwhile, on the technical side, Fashanu’s uncommon patience and composure help to maximize his footwork and hand usage.

He’s incredibly fleet-footed and malleable when matching rushers, and he has the combined independent hand usage, energy efficiency, and anchor strength to control rushers from start to finish on pass-protecting reps.

MORE: FREE Mock Draft Simulator With Trades

There are occasional lapses in balance on Fashanu’s tape, where he veers too high with his pads or is a bit late to recalibrate his base against power rushes. But overall, Fashanu has all-encompassing talent and technical refinement to be an impact starter at left tackle on day one in the NFL. And at his ceiling, he can be an All-Pro player.

With this projection, at a premium position, Fashanu is undoubtedly worthy of top-10 capital in the 2024 NFL Draft.