Olu
Fashanu.
Olu
Fashanu.
Penn State
"The rare tackle prospect whose calling card is what does not happen: no pressures, no panic, no gate opened to the arc — an anchor bought early because the floor arrives on day one."Pre-draft read
Fashanu is a left tackle built on length, patience and clean feet rather than violence. He plays with a tall, easy set, mirrors speed to the arc without opening the gate, and recovers late because his hands reset instead of grabbing. Power rushers get a real anchor: he sits into contact, keeps his hips under him and rarely gets walked into the pocket.
In the run game he is a positional blocker first, best on reach and zone climbs where his range lets him cover ground to the second level. He will not maul anyone off the ball, and the finish is more control than displacement. The signature is the pass set: elite arc reps against Big Ten edge talent with almost no pressure surrendered.
Pass-first offense with heavy zone and outside-zone run concepts, where a tackle wins on angles, reach blocks and clean edge protection rather than down-block displacement.
Year 1: immediate starting left tackle in a zone-based offense that lets him protect on an island. Ceiling: a top-ten blindside protector who erases the opponent's best rusher for a decade.
A gap/power run offense that asks the left tackle to be a displacement blocker on duo and counter, or a max-drop, hold-the-ball passing attack that turns every rep into an extended anchor test.
Value comes from pass protection volume, not from being the tone-setter in the run game.
Olu Fashanu 2023 Season Highlights | Penn State OT
Full senior-season cut-up: arc sets against Big Ten edge rushers and climbs to the second level.
Scouting Olu Fashanu, Penn State's Left Tackle of the Here and Now
Technique-focused film study on his set depth, hand timing and anchor mechanics.
Olumuyiwa Fashanu highlight reel — Drafted by the Jets at No. 11
Draft-night reel produced after the eleventh overall selection.
A three-year Penn State developmental win who turned a redshirt and a rotational season into consensus All-American status. Fashanu is the modern blindside archetype: 6-foot-6, 312 pounds, 34-inch arms, a 5.11 forty and a set that looks the same on rep one and rep sixty. His identity is pass protection, and it is close to a finished product.
He took over at left tackle in 2022 and was one of the best pass protectors in college football before an ankle injury cost him the back half of the year. He came back in 2023 instead of declaring, won Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, and left with a reputation for surrendering almost nothing off the edge. The flags were durability, a run-blocking profile that lives on angles instead of movement, and a smaller sample of full seasons than teams like at the position.
Boards had him inside the top ten as one of the top two tackles in a loaded class. The Jets traded back a slot and still got him at eleven, betting that a young blindside protector with this floor was worth taking before the need was urgent. It was the safe, structural pick in a class where tackles came off the board fast.
- 01
Pass-set technique
Tall, patient sets with clean footwork and no lunging; he mirrors speed to the arc without opening the gate.
- 02
Anchor against power
Sits into bull rushes with hips under him and rarely gets driven back into the quarterback's lap.
- 03
Length and hand placement
34-inch arms used with timing rather than desperation, resetting mid-rep instead of grabbing.
- 04
Range in space
Covers ground on reach blocks and second-level climbs, comfortable working to linebackers on zone.
- 05
Developmental arc
Went from redshirt to consensus All-American in three years, with tape that improved every season.
- 01
Play strength at the point
Positional run blocker who controls defenders more than he displaces them off the ball.
- 02
Durability
An ankle injury cost him half of 2022 and plantar fasciitis ended his rookie year on injured reserve.
- 03
Sample size
Fewer full seasons of high-level starting tape than NFL teams typically want from a top-15 offensive tackle.
- 04
Finishing temperament
Wins reps and lets go; the nasty, run-through-the-whistle streak shows up only in flashes.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Penn State | — |
| 2021 | Penn State | 9 |
| 2022 | Penn State | — |
| 2023 | Penn State | — |
| Career | — | 9 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate counting stats. Only verified figures are listed: 9 appearances in 2021 and 8 starts in 2022. Exact 2022-23 game counts and career totals could not be verified against a primary source, so they are left null rather than estimated.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Reliable zone-scheme left tackle whose pass protection outruns his run-game impact.
Technique-and-balance blindside starter who wins with feet and hands instead of raw power.
Pass-set talent whose play strength and availability keep him from holding the job.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The Jets did not hand him the job. As a rookie he filled in at right tackle early, then took over at left tackle in Week 11 after Tyron Smith went down, started six games in all and landed on injured reserve in Week 16 with plantar fasciitis. In 2025 he opened as the starting left tackle on a 3-14 team that changed its coaching staff and front office around him, and through two seasons he sat at 32 games and 24 starts — steady but interrupted, with the durability question following him from college into the league.
The evaluation has held up in shape more than in scale. He protects, he does not panic and he has never looked overmatched by NFL speed, which is what an eleventh pick at tackle is supposed to buy. What has not arrived yet is the dominant run-game presence or a clean 17-game season, and playing on bad teams has made his good tape easy to miss. The verdict is genuinely open: the trait floor is real, the availability is the thing that decides whether he becomes a decade starter or just a good one.
Data note: Offensive linemen do not accumulate counting stats. Only verified figures are listed: 9 appearances in 2021 and 8 starts in 2022. Exact 2022-23 game counts and career totals could not be verified against a primary source, so they are left null rather than estimated.