Penn State Top 10 of ‘22: #6 LT Olu Fashanu

Mar 20, 2023 - 11:15 AM

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Following each season, the BSD staff votes on the 10 best players. A #1 vote is worth 10 points, a #2 vote is nine points, and so on. Today we continue off our Top 10 series with our #6 vote-getter: left tackle Olu Fashanu.

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For years and years, Penn State fans hoped that Rasheed Walker would become the All-Big Ten caliber bookend that every great program needs. After all, Walker showed extreme promise early in his career and was a Top 100 recruit coming out of Maryland. The makings for a bonafide left tackle were there, but alas, Walker could never quite put things together. He was never quite consistent enough to live up to — rightly or wrongly — high expectations.

Turn the page a year, and the same Penn State fans were hopeful for the new starting left tackle Olu Fashanu. While Fashanu didn’t have the accolades as a recruit that Walker did, it was clear he was a very promising prospect. He showed his potential in his lone start before the 2022 season when he stepped in for an injured Walker during the Outback Bowl against Arkansas.

Safe to say, expectations were relatively high for Fashanu heading into 2022 despite the fact he had played limited snaps. But very quickly, those expectations were met, with Fashanu being absolutely dominant from the word “go” on the 2022 season. While his season was eventually lost to an injury following the Ohio State game, Fashanu was as good as a pass blocker as there was in college football last year.

A projected first round pick, Fashanu shocked the football world when he announced that he was going to be coming back to Penn State for one more season. On his “to do” list:

• Graduate
• Win a Big Ten Title
• Win a National Title

I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty, pretty good.

So far this offseason, it’s been smooth-sailing for Fashanu. James Franklin announced prior to spring ball that Fashanu will be full-go and won’t be hampered by his injury that kept him out the last few games of last season. That’s great news for Penn State, as the offensive line — anchored by Fashanu — has the potential to be one of the very best in the nation.