The Planes, with all the discussion of exchanges fostering the NFL Draft, ended up executing the primary exchange of the evening, exchanging spots with No .11 Minnesota, which climbed to No. 10 while the Green and White were at work.
What's more, with the eleventh in general determination, the Planes chosen Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu to vie for a beginning position and help with the profundity and nature of the hostile line in safeguarding QB Aaron Rodgers and moving lead trainer Robert Saleh's offense down the field as the 2024 season draws near.
"We're truly eager to welcome large Olu to the Planes," senior supervisor Joe Douglas told journalists not long after the exchange and the eleventh determination were finished.
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-Huge 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 Large Ten Hostile Lineman of the Year. He was likewise a finalist for the William V. Campbell Prize, a.k.a. "the Scholarly Heisman."
At the point when he began to make his NFL group visits, he just had an inclination that he and the Planes may be bound for one another.
"They certainly showed interest," Fashanu told the group's media Thursday night. "I figure they worked really hard of camouflaging 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 one of a kind draft class at the tackle position," Douglas said. "We truly felt there was a small bunch of folks that were staggering players. Olu being a left tackle, what he truly does in pass expert, exceptionally low tension rates, playing in one of the top gatherings in the nation, he's simply an extremely undeniable level pass defender. Also, I don't think he gets sufficient credit for his run-obstructing. He's simply a major body, an extremely intense, cutthroat young fellow."
"You know me at this point. O-line, Dline, more is always better," Saleh said. "You can never have enough." The mentor added that having as of late obtained veteran handles Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses assists with Fashanu's change to the star game. "They have such a lot of abundance of involvement, in strategy as well as how to be a master and get ready at this level. The young fellow's just 21 years of age. He hasn't even started to expose what's underneath yet."
Fashanu sees many advantages to putting on the green and white when the following week's new kid on the block minicamp. Also, three of those reasons are three of the players he watched video of when he initially began playing football at his Washington, DC, secondary school: QB Aaron Rodgers and individual handles Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses.
"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 exhortation with respect to 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. At that point, he was without a doubt the norm at left tackle." Comparably for Moses: "He's a person I've watched a ton of film on from the past. To have the chance to learn under two veteran handles, I'm simply really honored."
Other than the tenth in general pick, the Planes likewise sent their 6th round determination, 203rd pick to the Vikings, and they got in kind the Vikes' eleventh pick along with their fourth-round decision (129th) and their fifth-rounder (157th).
"The additional ammunition is perfect. It gives us greater adaptability," Douglas said. "We'll evaluate how the remainder of this round goes, we'll assemble our board for tomorrow evening, and there will be five or six situations to the extent that climbing, moving back. Having those additional picks provides us with a ton of adaptability to do various things."
The Planes have gone to the Blissful Valley well frequently throughout the long term, with Fashanu the 28th Nittany Lion to be drafted by the Green and White. A considerable lot of the vital Penn State Planes draftees played on edge side of the ball, starting with LB Ralph Bread cook (43rd, 1964), trailed by DE John Ebersole (98th, 1970), LB Greg Buttle (67th, 1976), LB Spear Mehl (69th, 1980), S Harry Hamilton (176th, 1984) and DT Lou Benfatti (94th, 1994).