The NFL still has one big game left to play in its 2023 season, but the focus for many has shifted toward the 2024 NFL draft. Penn State is expected to have at least one player hear his name called in the first round of the draft this year with offensive lineman [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag] widely regarded as one of the top offensive linemen in the draft this year. And some feel there is a good chance a second Nittany Lion could go in the first round.
Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports updated his mock draft for the 2024 NFL draft a day before the Super Bowl, and he has two Penn State players in his first round.
Fornelli first has Fashanu going very early in the draft with the Arizona Cardinals using the no. 4 overall pick to select Fashanu.
“Fashanu is not a perfect prospect. He can lose his balance and be overpowered when run-blocking,” Fornelli said in his summary of Penn State’s top offensive lineman. “That said, I’m not drafting a left tackle for his run-blocking ability. As a pass-protector, Fashanu is a dream prospect for the position. He has some learning left to do, but Fashanu could be one of the best left tackles in the league for a decade.”
Fashanu has been projected as a top-10 draft pick by multiple NFL draft experts since the close of the 2023 college football season, but Fornelli has one of the highest mock draft picks for Fashanu to date. That would be a great landing spot for Fashanu, who would be highly paid as the fourth overall pick in the draft, and the top offensive lineman off the board if Fornelli’s latest projection comes true.
The most likely Penn State star to join Fashanu in the first round of this year’s draft will be defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag]. Robinson has been considered a player more likely to go in the back end of the first round, but Fornelli has the fierce pass rusher going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the no. 26 overall pick.
“He’s off the ball so quickly that you sometimes think he jumped offsides, he never stops playing, and he can drop into coverage,” Fornelli said about Robinson. “He has to add more moves to his repertoire, but there’s so much to like and work with here.”
Penn State cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag] failed to make the first-round cut on Fornelli’s first-round mock draft, although some draft analysts have suggested he has the potential to be a first-round draft pick. King’s stock may have taken a hit at the Senior Bowl, however, which means he will have to have a strong showing at the NFL combine and Penn State’s pro day to redeem himself a bit and make a case for first-round consideration.
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