After a solid redshirt sophomore season in 2022, Penn State’s rising leader on the offensive line has massive expectations in 2023. Like the rest of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Olu Fashanu must play a massive role in the Lions’ success this year — if he meets expectations this year, Fashanu could be one of the best tackles in the nation and earn himself a spot in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Fashanu made Bleacher Report’s ‘Perfect Offense’ list — he was the only Nittany Lion named on either side of the ball this year.
What does Bleacher Report say about Olu Fashanu?
Here is what Bleacher Report author Brad Shepard has to say about Olu Fashanu in 2023:
If you want a blueprint for a left tackle, Olumuyiwa Fashanu (who goes by “Olu”) fits the bill. His picture could be beside “Prototypical Left Tackle” in the football dictionary. On this team, he’s going to move over to the right side because of a star veteran we’ll get to in a couple of slides.
He is 6’6″, 308 pounds, extremely athletic and has long arms. Thrust into action last year as a sophomore, he thrived and instantly landed on NFL teams’ radars. It’s just a matter of time before he makes a ton of money upon leaving Happy Valley.
Until then, he’s going to love being an anchor in an offense that will see Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen run everywhere and blocking for new quarterback Drew Allar. On this all-star team, he’d be a major asset.
According to his Nittany Lions profile, the Waldorf, Maryland, product started eight games at left tackle, allowing zero sacks in 281 pass-blocking snaps. He was the coaching staff’s offensive player of the game in wins over Auburn and Purdue.
He is a lockdown pass-protector, and while he could still use some work in the run game, he is still young (20 years old) and had his first real taste of starting a season ago. It’s just a matter of time before he figures everything out and is a star-in-the-making.
It’s certainly plausible he will be the first tackle taken in the 2024 NFL draft because of his limitless potential, Penn State’s offensive line pedigree and the way he helped turn around a unit that had been uncharacteristically bad the past couple of seasons. Fashanu is only going to get better, and this season, he is going to be among the nation’s best.
Fashanu could be the best tackle in the nation this year
Throughout his three years at Penn State University, Fashanu has developed into one of the Big Ten’s best lineman. After earning a starting role on Penn State’s Rose Bowl-winning roster a season ago, Fashanu earned honors such as Walter Camp second-team All-American, AP/coaches second-team All-Big Ten, and academic All-Big Ten honoree.
This year, with a talented quarterback, experience running backs, and an improved offensive line unit, Fashanu and the Penn State offense could be a force in the conference and beyond.
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