Green and White Flip Cycle 1 Picks with Vikings; ' Fashanu: For me, the Jets were the obvious choice.
And as the 2024 season draws near, the Jets selected Olu Fashanu, a tackle from Penn State, with the 11th overall pick. Fashanu will likely fight for a starting position and aid in protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers and advancing head coach Robert Saleh's offence down the field thanks to the offensive line's depth and talent.
General manager Joe Douglas told reporters shortly after the trade and the 11th selection were completed, "We're really excited to welcome big Olu to the Jets."
Fashanu was a four-year player and a two-year starter at left tackle for the Nittany Lions. After a physical issue abbreviated 2022 season in which he was named second-group All-Large Ten Meeting, the engaged, driven Fashanu set up everything last season with 12 beginnings, and toward the year's end he was chosen by Related Press as a first-group All-American and named Huge Ten Hostile Lineman of the Year. He was likewise a finalist for the William V. Campbell Prize, a.k.a. " the Heisman Academic Prize."
He just had a gut feeling that he and the Jets might be meant to be together when he started visiting NFL teams.
Fashanu told the team's media on Thursday night, "They definitely showed interest." I figure they worked really hard of masking it, it didn't appear to be anything else than whatever other group that showed interest. However, after that visit, after the Join, for me the Planes were the undeniable spot for me."
"It was a particularly novel draft class at the tackle position," Douglas said. " We truly felt there was a modest bunch of folks that were extraordinary players. Olu is a high-level pass protector due to his position as a left tackle, his work as a pass pro, his very low pressure rates, and his participation in one of the nation's top conferences. Additionally, his run-blocking merits insufficient praise, in my opinion. He just has a big body and is a young man who is tough and competitive.
Fashanu sees many advantages to putting on the green and white when the following week's youngster minicamp. Additionally, when he first started playing football at his Washington, DC, high school, he watched video of three of these players: Aaron Rodgers, quarterback, and fellow tackles Morgan Moses and Tyron Smith.
"Aaron Rodgers, simply growing up watching him and all the gereat things he's finished all through his vocation, to have that potential chance to be in the same boat and ask him any pieces and tips and counsel concerning what made his profession so effective, that is the very best an open door," he said.
With respect to Smith, Fashanu said, "I feel like I'm carrying on with a fantasy. He was the very first player I watched when I began watching film as a tackle. He was the absolute standard at left tackle at the time." The same goes for Moses: He's a person I've watched a great deal of film on from the past. To have the chance to learn under two veteran handles, I'm simply really honored."
In addition to the 10th overall pick, the Jets gave the Vikings their sixth-round pick, which was the 203rd pick, in exchange for the 11th pick, their fourth-round pick, which was ranked 129th, and their fifth-round pick, which was ranked 157th.
"The additional ammunition is perfect. It gives us greater adaptability," Douglas said. " We'll figure out how the rest of this round went, put together our board for tomorrow night, and there will be five or six options for moving up or back. We have a lot of flexibility to try different things because we have those extra picks."
Fashanu is the 28th Nittany Lion to be selected by the Green & White, making the Jets a frequent visitor to Happy Valley. The Penn State Jets selected a number of notable defensive players, beginning with LB Ralph Baker (ranked 43rd in 1964), moving on to DE John Ebersole (ranked 98th in 1970), LB Greg Buttle (ranked 67th in 1976), LB Lance Mehl (ranked 69th in 1980), S Harry Hamilton (ranked 176th in 1984), and DT Lou Benfatti (ranked 94th in 1994).
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