From first-year starter to first-round prospect, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu drawing NFL attention

Dane Brugler watched the Outback Bowl, noticed big No. 74 at left tackle and saw potential. But even he’s been surprised to see how quickly Penn State’s Olu Fashanu has developed into one of the best prospects in the country.

And make no mistake about it, that’s where Fashanu stands right now, just eight games into his first season as a starter for the Nittany Lions.

Brugler, The Athletic’s lead NFL draft analyst, released his midseason top 50 prospect rankings for the 2023 draft on Wednesday. Fashanu was all the way up at No. 5 overall. Penn State’s redshirt sophomore was slotted behind only Alabama’s Will Anderson and Bryce Young, Georgia’s Jalen Carter and Clemson’s Myles Murphy.

Fashanu, who didn’t crack Brugler’s preseason top 50, has been this fall’s biggest riser. And by the analyst’s estimation, Fashanu’s first-round projection is warranted.

“He’s shown enough on film to convince me that this guy is the best tackle prospect in the country,” Brugler said. “And he’s going to have a tough decision to make after the year, to come out or go back to school.”

It’s a decision that Fashanu won’t take lightly. The 19-year-old supply chain management major is on track to graduate next fall. Fashanu and his parents, Paige and Anthony, met with Penn State coach James Franklin last Sunday to start the dialogue toward what will be an educated decision.

For context, last year’s top tackle off the board — N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu to the Carolina Panthers at No. 6 overall — signed a four-year, $27.6 million contract.

Franklin said this week that Fashanu is handling the increased attention well. With agents allowed to contact draft-eligible prospects during the season, the lineman’s phone has been “ringing off the hook constantly.” But Fashanu has a good head on his shoulders. Franklin said he might end up as an Academic All-American. And with the way he’s playing, Fashanu could be an on-field All-American, too.

Two months into the season, Fashanu hasn’t surrendered a sack. He’s allowed only seven pressures, per Pro Football Focus. In his biggest tests of the season — against Auburn’s Derick Hall, Michigan’s Mike Morris and, most recently, Ohio State’s Zach Harrison and J.T. Tuimoloau — Fashanu allowed two pressures.

Harrison, ranked No. 30 overall on Brugler’s midseason big board, has elite speed and length. Last weekend, Fashanu kept him mostly in front and out of the play. And when Harrison beat Fashanu on a couple occasions, he recovered with relative ease.

“There were a couple recoveries he had where it was like, wow,” Brugler said. “They would’ve been impressive for an NFL player, and he’s doing it at only 19 years old.”

Fashanu’s pure ability has caught the attention of the NFL draft and scouting community. His core strength is off the charts. His hand strength is impressive. So is his size at 6-foot-6, 308 pounds. But it’s his age and mental makeup that have Fashanu positioned as a potential top-five selection come April.

“Olu doesn’t look like he’s laboring out there. Part of that is the processing, intelligence side of it in terms of his preparation of what rushers might try to throw at him,” Brugler said. “In the NFL, everybody’s big, fast and strong on the offensive line. It’s the guys who really understand their technique and their body control, those are the guys who carve out 15-year careers in the NFL. That’s what Olu’s doing right now.”

Brugler said Fashanu, who turns 20 years old in December, reminds him of Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith. The two aren’t like-for-like comparisons on the field. But Smith, a two-year starter for USC, also turned 20 in December before Dallas drafted him with the No. 9 overall pick in 2011. The Cowboys invested in Smith’s potential, and it paid off as he went on to become an eight-time Pro Bowler.

When coaches, scouts and executives look at Fashanu, they see not only what he’s done so far as a 19-year-old but what his ceiling is five, six, 10 years down the line.

If these comparisons and projections seem to be coming out of nowhere, that’s fair. Fashanu was a three-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class (with offers from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and others), redshirted his first year and appeared in nine games in 2021, mostly behind seventh-round draft pick Rasheed Walker. It wasn’t until he started ahead of an injured Walker in the Outback Bowl that people outside the Penn State program really took notice of Fashanu’s development.

But to those inside the program, this breakout season was expected.

“This is no surprise to anybody on the team,” guard Sal Wormley said. “We all knew who he was before his name got out there. We all knew what he was capable of and how he practiced and how he played. … Of course, it makes us happy that he’s getting the recognition he deserves. But he’s a humble guy. Never been a rowdy or arrogant person. He doesn’t focus or talk about what other people are saying about him. He’s just about the team, him getting better and improving with the whole line.”

“Almost all the guys in that locker room have shown the ability to flash from time to time and do some really special things,” Franklin said. “I think that’s what separates Olu. He’s just so consistent with his approach, with his habits, with his maturity, with his drive toward being elite in everything that he does.”

And in a couple months, Fashanu will have a decision to make: take those elite traits to the NFL or bring them back to Penn State for one more year.