Penn State football star earns more national praise ahead of the 2023 season

Recently, Pro Football Focus released its rankings of the top 10 returning offensive tackles in college football for the 2023 season. Despite being projected as a first-round pick, Fashanu was ranked as the No. 4 offensive tackle in the nation by PFF.

According to several experts, Olu Fashanu has the potential to be a top-5 draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In fact, many were surprised when Fashanu announced his decision to return to Penn State football this fall instead of entering the NFL draft this year. However, the Nittany Lions still had six players drafted, which tied them for second place in the Big Ten with Ohio State.

Fashanu’s imposing stature, exceptional physical abilities, and remarkable talent, combined with his natural instincts for the position, have captured the attention of the nation. According to 247 Sports, the star player from Penn State is rated as one of the top 10 players in the country this year.

While there may be some disagreement about his exact ranking among the top players, there is a unanimous consensus that he is one of the best offensive players in college football at present. Despite PFF ranking him as a top-5 returning offensive tackle, many still believe that he is being underrated by the renowned football analytics brand.

PFF explains their take

For those of you wondering why PFF ranked Fashanu at No. 4, here is their take on what he can do:

“Fashanu is also a serious challenger to Alt’s OT1 status in the 2024 draft because he would’ve likely been a first-rounder in 2023 had he declared. Like Latham, Fashanu is a dominant pass protector. Also like Latham, Fashanu didn’t allow a sack and only surrendered one hit from 281 pass-blocking snaps. His 84.7 pass-blocking grade ranked sixth among Power Five tackles. His 59.4 run-blocking grade certainly needs improvement, but he just turned 20 years old in December and has an uncoachable smoothness in pass protection.”