Three Penn State players are projected to go in Pro Football Focus’ first 2024 NFL Mock Draft.
In this past weekend’s NFL Draft, surprisingly, no Penn State player went in the first round of the draft.
Projected first-rounder Joey Porter Jr. slipped to the second round (32nd overall), going to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Well, in the first PFF 2024 NFL Mock Draft, three Penn State players are taken in round one.
PFF has Olu Fashanu going number six overall to the Washington Commanders, Kalen King going 15th to the Chicago Bears, and Chop Robinson going 19th overall to the New York Giants.
In @PFF's Way-Too-Early 2024 NFL Mock Draft, both Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. land with the Arizona Cardinals😳https://t.co/5qojhOKJT3 pic.twitter.com/WoB4tVKkFF
— On3 (@On3sports) May 1, 2023
Fashanu (6-foot-6, 320 pounds) was one of the best pass-blocking left tackles in the Power Five conferences in 2022. His 84.7 pass-blocking grade was sixth among Power Five tackles, as he only allowed one quarterback hit in 281 pass-blocking reps.
Charles Leno, the Commanders’ current left tackle is heading into his age-32 season and will have only one year left on his contract after the 2023 season. Fashanu can play right away if Leno becomes a cap casualty in the future.
King (5-foot-11, 189 pounds) figures to have the spotlight with the departure of Joey Porter, but last season he came into his own. PFF 93.3 grade of 93.3 for King was the highest of any cornerback in the country. King allowed a passer rating of 18.3 and forced 15 incompletions, according to PFF.
Chicago has Kyler Gordon and Jaylon Jackson on the top of its cornerback depth chart and could use another young prospect to round out its secondary that features former Penn State standout, Jaquan Brisker.
Robinson (6-foot-3, 253 pounds) led all Power Five edge defenders with a 90.6 overall grade and 92.4 pass-rushing grade in PFF’s ranking. His 23.4 pass-rush win ranked sixth among edge defenders in the Power Five.
New York did draft Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azee Ojulari in last year’s draft, and the duo combined for nine sacks, however, Robinson has the skill set to make an impact, either as a day-one starter, in a rotation, or sub-packages.
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