Last season, Jets rookie first-round pick Olu Fashanu was expected to sit behind Morgan Moses and Tyron Smith. But with injuries striking both of them, Fashanu was thrust into the starting lineup, where he faced early struggles.
For the 2025 season, Fashanu will be in line to start in Week 1. He seems to be in line for a major breakout campaign.
PFF predicts Jets’ Olu Fashanu will be the league’s most improved OT
Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus recently named Fashanu as his prediction to be the most improved offensive tackle in the league this season.
“With Justin Fields at quarterback, the Jets will likely emphasis their running game in 2024, and while Fashanu has shown in college and with Smith retired, Fashanu enters the 2025 season as the undoubted starter at left tackle for the Jets and there’s a chance he breaks out as the league’s next great blindside protector,” Valentine explained.
Fashanu did struggle some last year, after being thrown into a tough situation. According to PFF, Fashanu earned a 47.1 grade, 73rd out of 79 tackles, and his 9.2% pressure-rate allowed was also the sixth-highest among tackles between Weeks 3 and 9 last season.
However, he did improve throughout the season. From Week 11 to 16, Fashanu earned a 67.8 grade and often flashed excellent pass-blocking traits.
Fashanu is physically gifted
Other than him improving in the football sense, Fashanu’s physicality level will also be evidently different.
Typically, players in the first year of their career aren’t as physically ready as they are later in their careers. The game is different, from high school to college, and finally, the NFL. The biggest jump is the last one, and this year we saw that with Fashanu.
There were moments watching Fashanu that demonstrated signs of his discomfort in his rookie season. Having had time to adjust, Fashanu could see some serious growth.
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