One of Penn State football’s best players of the 2020s is a consensus All-American.
Left tackle Olu Fashanu had already been named a first-team All-American by the AP and Walter Camp Football Foundation.
Now, the Sporting News has named him one, making Fashanu the first Penn State OL to be named a unanimous All-American since center Jeff Hartings accomplished that feat in 1995.
Hartings went onto have an 11-year NFL career, twice being named All-Pro and being part of a Super Bowl winner with the 2005 Steelers. Hartings played his first five seasons with the Detroit Lions, who drafted him 23rd overall in 1996.
Fashanu is also widely expected to go in the first round and could even land as high as the top three.
He almost certainly would have been a first-round pick had he declared for the draft after the 2022 season, but he surprised America by deciding to stay at Penn State for another year.
Now, Fashanu does have an extra year of eligibility left, but it would be an even bigger surprise than it was last season if he decides to come back.
There’s a possibility Fashanu’s already played his last college game. He has the choice of opting out of the team’s Peach Bowl game against Ole Miss scheduled for Dec. 30, which fellow All-American and projected first-round pick Chop Robinson already has.
Penn State tight end Theo Johnson— who, like Fashanu, was part of PSU’s 2020 recruiting class— announced late last week that he’ll declare for the NFL Draft, but will play in the Peach Bowl. Fashanu didn’t get a chance to play in Penn State’s Rose Bowl win over Utah this past January due to injury.
