Mel Kiper makes case for New York Jets to draft Olu Fashanu at No.10

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. released his 2024 NFL Draft Mock Draft 1.0. He followed that up with his draft special later in the day to discuss how he views everything shaking out.

In this year’s draft, the No. 10 overall pick belongs to the New York Jets, who are in desperate need of offensive line help, especially after poor O-line play resulted in the franchise losing veteran star quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the season opener. And to help bolster their offensive line unit, Kiper believes they will bring in the former Penn State star offensive tackle Olu Fashanu to protect Rodgers.

“Olu Fashanu. [I] watched him play high school football with Caleb Williams,” said Kiper. “Caleb was a quarterback at Gonzaga (high school in Washington, DC). Olu Fashanu was blocking up front for that offensive line. You look at what he did at Penn State; the development of this kid over the last couple of years.”

“He will draw comparisons, in my opinion, to Ronnie Stanley with the Baltimore Ravens. [Stanley is] formerly of Notre Dame [and a] top ten pick overall, when he came out. Fashanu, the Jets need; they need tackle help [on] both sides. Fashanu could be that immediate impact player, that guy that can be that bookend and really help out Aaron Rodgers [who] got hurt a couple of plays into last season… Fashanu would be a good way to start rebuilding and developing that offensive line more.”

To say the Jets need help in the offensive trenches would be a significant understatement. Per ESPN, the AFC’s New York franchise ranked near the bottom and pass block win rate (30^th), run block win rate (29^th), pressure percentage (28^th), and sack percentage (29^th).

Fashanu has been a model of consistency playing at Penn State. The 6-foot-7 offensive tackle has been credited with not allowing a single sack for the second straight season. This year, on 365 pass-blocking snaps, Fashanu stonewalled defenders attempting to take down Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar. Fashanu also earned Big Ten offensive lineman of the year honors and was a consensus First-Team All-Big Ten selection to go along with his Walter Camp first-team All-American selection.

With Fashanu’s impressive size and pass-blocking talent, he is likely to be in the running to be a starter to open the season for New York. And if he is able to pick up where he left off at Penn State, and New York acquires a little more offensive line talent, the Jets could very well find themselves leading the pack in the AFC East next season with Rodgers at the helm.