Joel Klatt raves about upside of Olu Fashanu in NFL

Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu is not only a surefire first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but potentially a top-10 prospect.

Fashanu could have been the first offensive tackle off the board in last year’s NFL Draft but returned to Happy Valley for one final season to get his degree. The 21-year-old remained a stalwart on Penn State’s offensive line, named the Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. Fashanu allowed zero sacks in 365 pass blocking snaps.

FS1‘s Joel Klatt, who was on the call for many of Fashanu’s games in college, believes the 6-foot-6, 317-pounder has the “highest upside of any offensive lineman in the Draft.”

“I got to cover him a bunch,” Klatt said during his Mock Draft 1.0 show. “A Wonderful human being. Maybe a better human than player or vice versa, he’s still great in both categories. And this is a guy who I still think is just scratching the surface. I think Olu has the highest upside of any offensive lineman in the Draft. Just because he’s so raw, what we saw this last year was him just scratching the surface.

“I think it was a great move for him — he would have been maybe the top offensive tackle taken off the board last year. Decided to come back for his education, got his degree, and now he’s going to be the top one or two tackle taken this year. But it was never about that for him. He wanted to get his degree and continue to develop into more of an NFL offensive lineman. He did that.”

Joel Klatt predicts where Olu Fashanu lands in 2024 NFL Draft

Klatt has Fashanu sneaking just inside the top-10, going to the New York Jets with pick No. 10. New York needs offensive line help to protect quarterback Aaron Rodgers, coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. Klatt said that if the Jets can keep Rodgers upright, they should be a playoff team.

“You’ve got to maximize the years you have with Aaron Rodgers,” Klatt said. “He’s coming back, but you’ve got to be able to protect him. The Jets have good enough of a defense and Garrett Wilson is still on the outside. If you can protect Rodgers, the Jets should be pretty good and a playoff team.”