All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. In this edition, we will look at offensive lineman Olu Fashanu.
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 319 pounds
Hometown: Waldorf, Maryland
Before Penn State: Fashanu played three seasons at Gonzaga College High School, helping his team win its conference as a junior and also being named second-team All-DC that year.
As a senior, Fashanu picked up 52 pancake blocks, part of the reason he became a four-star recruit according to Rivals a three-star according to 247Sports and ESPN.
He committed to Penn State in June of 2019.
At Penn State
2020: Fashanu didn’t play in his true freshman season.
2021: Fashanu played in nine of Penn State’s 13 games, making his first college start against Arkansas in the Outback Bowl.
Against Arkansas, Pro Football Focus give Fashanu a respectable 65.2 grade overall and a solid 87.6 great for pass blocking mark for pass blocking.
Fashanu protected former Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford well, not allowing a single quarterback pressure.
2022: Fashanu started eight games at left tackle and did not allow a sack in 281 pass blocking snaps. He was named the coaching staff’s Offensive Player of the Game twice, coming against Purdue on Sept. 1 and Sept. 17 against Auburn.
Fashanu’s efforts earned him multiple honors, including being named a Walter Camp second-team All-American and a third-team All-American by Phil Steele. He was chosen for All-Big Ten honors by five different voting criteria while being selected as Penn State’s Dick Maginnis Memorial Award winner for most outstanding offensive lineman.
Where he stands: Fashanu enters his junior season with many eyes already on him, as he was already named a preseason All-American by the Associated Press.
He will look to build off a strong 2022 campaign that was unexpectedly cut short due to suffering an injury in Penn State’s matchup with Ohio State. Despite being young for his class, Fashanu and his family made the decision to return to Penn State despite being draft eligible last spring.
He’ll be tasked with protecting the blind side of highly touted quarterback Drew Allar.
A quote about Fashanu: ”He’s still developing, he’s still getting better,” Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin said. “From everyone that I know and I’ve talked to, he was being projected as a first rounder. I want to do everything we can to help him become a top-10 pick, which I think he is, in terms of not only a player, but a franchise guy in terms of how he goes about his business.”
