Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482664
2 2 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Pro Football Focus, Fashanu has backed up the sentiment this season. Through the first two months of action, his 86.0 pass- blocking grade was ranked fifth nation- ally. And, in an otherwise disappointing afternoon for Penn State at Michigan on Oct. 15, Fashanu's overall offensive grade of 79.5 was a personal best. It was also one of the Nittany Lions' lone consistent performances on either side of the ball. A Reliable Performer On an offensive line understood to be a work-in-progress, with an emphasis on demonstrating that progress this season, Fashanu's performances have stood as the group's most consistent. Often earning PFF grades reflective of Penn State's back-and-forth offensive production this season, the group pro- duced its best pass-blocking effort of the season against Minnesota on Oct. 22. Contrasted against its lowest-graded per- formance of the year at Michigan the week earlier, the line's showing has been ad- mittedly up and down. Franklin acknowl- edged those shortcomings while offering a midseason evaluation of what he'd like to see from the group moving forward. "It's like every position, it's consis- tency," he said. "There have been flashes of really good things that everybody has been excited about — our staff, our team, the fans. I think there have been times when we've been really happy with how it's looked and how productive we've been. "There are other times where we've got to be more consistent and clean some things up, whether we're getting different looks, or different fronts or pressures or run-throughs. Those are opportunities for big plays as long as we can identify those things, communicate those things, get a hat on a hat." That inconsistency has been particu- larly notable for Penn State's run- ning effort. Ta k i n g m a s - sive strides from a season ago, Penn State's rushing of- fense has leaped from the bottom of college football's ranks into its top half. Even so, performances of more than 200 yards rushing against Ohio, Auburn, Northwestern and Minnesota have been offset by rougher outings at Purdue and Michigan. More important than pure totals, the explosive carries of 10 or more yards are what Franklin has hoped to generate more frequently. The Lions were nearly shut out of the category against the Boilermak- ers before the floodgates opened for true freshman running backs Nicholas Sin- gleton and Kaytron Allen in consecutive weeks, helped by holes created by the line. Unable to do the same against North- western and Michigan, Franklin stressed the element's necessity to Penn State's offense reaching its highest potential and, more importantly, the line's role in that process. "It's consistency, making the big block, getting a hat on a hat," Franklin said. "But it's also blocking with a mentality and trying to finish people so guys can't fall off the block for a run of 4 yards. [In- stead], we're finishing a block, so now a ball carrier can turn a 4-yard run into an explosive run." Franklin's message, and that of offen- sive line coach Phil Trautwein, has reso- nated with the group. Trying To Be 'Spotless' Pleased by the steps taken early in the season, and the on-field dividends that were created as a result, Fashanu wasn't ready to get carried away. Taking stock of what they'd done as a group to that point, he said being in a pretty good spot was no reason to get complacent. "There are still a ton of things we need to work on," he said. "We're just going to keep on working on our errors, just going to keep working to improve and just get better every day." Fashanu didn't exempt himself from the assess- m e n t . Wa n t - ing to improve the details of his pass protection, though he'd been excellent in that part of his game, Fashanu described his goal as "trying to be as spotless as possible." In run blocking, an area he hadn't graded out above average by PFF in any game in the first half of the season, more work remained, too. In his first season as a starter at left tackle and still only 19 years old, Fashanu was tabbed as ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller's No. 5-rated offensive tackle for the 2023 NFL Draft. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE "It's trying to understand lever- age in the sense of the right way to position my body to make the right type of block on any certain play." F A S H A N U , A B O U T W O R K I N G O N H I S R U N - B L O C K I N G