NFL draft time is officially here as festivities at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama have gotten underway, giving scouts from the National Football League a good look at many of these prospective players in person.
Penn State should have a fairly good draft once again, with some players expected to hear their names called early on in the process.
Former NFL scout and current media analyst, Daniel Jeremiah, released his initial Top-50 draft-eligible prospect list and two Nittany Lions were highlighted.
As expected, offensive tackle [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag] and edge rusher [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag] were the two Penn State players featured on the list.
Fashanu was listed as Jeremiah’s No. 12 player, ranking as the third offensive tackle overall.
“Fashanu has ideal size, length and strength for the left tackle position. In pass pro, he explodes out of his stance, redirects easily and has strong hands to stab and steer defenders … Overall, Fashanu is still very young and developing. He has all the tools to be a solid starting left tackle once he cleans up some small areas of his game,” he writes in his evaluation.
Jeremiah noted that the former Nittany Lion can get into trouble with his eyes when blocking and has had some issues with power rushers. In run blocking reps, he needs to be more consistent.
That’s pretty much on par with what had been said about the star tackle throughout his college career.
He’s an elite pass blocking almost every single snap, but showed he had some issues with power on the opposing side. There were questions about his run blocking ability when playing for Penn State as well.
Robinson came in at No. 25 on Jeremiah’s list and is the fourth edge rusher.
“Robinson is an extremely twitched-up edge rusher with limited production. He has average size but is incredibly explosive … Overall, Robinson isn’t a smooth/bendy type of player, but his mix of speed and power provides a lot of disruption,” he writes.
Now, for Penn State fans, some of what Jeremiah mentioned in his full evaluation could be seen as harsh, but it’s also necessary to remember what is being looked for at the next level.
Robinson won’t be facing college players, he’ll be competing against the best football players in the world.
Evaluations are made to give a true feel about what someone can do at the next level.
Overall, having two players listed in the Top-25 players by a prominent talent evaluator is great for Penn State.