Film Session: Olumuyiwa Fashanu NFL Draft Prospect profile

Pro scouting report of Penn State Left Tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu

Olumuyiwa Fashanu is a senior left tackle at Penn State University. He started 21 out of 29 games with the Nittany Lions, 12 in 2023 and eight in 2022, before suffering an undisclosed season-ending injury. Fashanu was a team captain, first-team All-American, Big Ten offensive lineman of the year, and first-team All-Big Ten in 2023.

What to make of Olumuyiwa Fashanu as a left tackle? Here are my takeaways from Fashanu’s college film

As a pass blocker, Fashanu shows impressive athleticism and get-off with his initial quickness in pass sets. He has a good understanding of set points on angles and verticals. He also shows good processing in establishing half-man relationships with 3-tech and 5-tech rushers. He also has active hands; he neutralizes speed rushers with his strike timing and hand placement. Fashanu has very good arm length and uses his strike timing to keep rushers off-balance and can quickly latch onto rushers and kill their rush plan early. When engaged, he has good upper body play strength and uses arm length to wash rushers around the pocket.

Fashanu also has a good feel for speed-to-power rushers. He is consistent in his get-off, using above-average initial quickness on angle sets. Fashanu plays with good pad level when in pass protection and is active with his hands to gain leverage and hold ground against power. He shows solid anchor ability at the set point against speed-to-power. Against line stunts, Fashanu shows average-level processing, identifying blitzes and simulated pressures. He also showcases good strength on contact when taking on crashers and loopers.

Against pure power/bull rushers, Fashanu displays good patience in his set points, using his athleticism to win half-man relationships and eliminate their rush path. Fashanu’s lateraFashanu’st is effective, too, and stands out most when engaged in mirroring defenders. Fashanu’s anchor is most effective against power rushers from the second level. His grip strength is not too impressive; his 8.5″ hand size is likely a factor, but he does a solid job sustaining blocks. Overall, Fashanu showcases above-average independent hand usage, locking into BIG’s wrist and ultimately taking away their rush leverage.

In the run game, Fashanu understands block concepts well. He is good in zone schemes and consistently gets into position on reach or combo blocks. He can create space on the first level with frontside combo blocks and displays good overall functional strength to displace defenders out of gaps with his leg drive. As a backside blocker, Fashanu is active as well as a post-blocker and has impressive physical toughness in his leg drive when overtaking on combo blocks. For the most part, Fashanu is comfortable on the second level. He can quickly climb to the second level with his acceleration and solid foot speed. As a backside blocker, he can clear rush paths with his hand placement and strength of contact. As a playside blocker, Fashanu shows good processing ID’ing 2nd-level targets.

Fashanu wins in 1-on-1 situations, too, using good pad level on base blocks and good overall play strength with leg drive to move 3-techs and 4-techs off the ball. He understands placement with his hands and has very good arm length, too, which allows him to establish leverage and displace defenders out of gaps. Fashanu’s grip is better in the run game than in the passing game, and he has good overall block sustain when engaged. Like combos, he positions well on double teams and can drive defenders off the line with his leg drive and functional strength.

Some issues with Fashanu in the passing game include oversetting against speed rushers. When oversetting, he can imbalance himself, creating an inside rush path available to rushers on counter moves. While Fashanu is effective with his hands and strikes, he can improve the power of his punches. Against wider alignments, such as wide-9 defenders, Fashanu seems less comfortable in space with his pass sets. He can sometimes short-set, allowing rushers to win half-man and have two-way options. He can sometimes leave his feet behind when attempting to mirror; not sliding with rushers will cause him to lunge and expose his arms to rushers.

Defenders with good initial bursts can create issues in Fashanu’s pass sets and anchor. While Fashanu’s hands Fashanu’se, he struggles to keep his chest clean when engaged. Against power rushers, he would need to develop techniques to keep his chest clean. Against twist games, Fashanu can be late in redirecting rushers due to his ability to change direction in space. Continuing with the lunge/waist bend theme, he can bend at the waist in pass sets, causing an imbalance with his feet and a problem with his anchor. On base blocks, he can lunge at the point of contact, which gets him out of position and control during engagements.