Penn State Football offensive line coach Phil Trautwein has put together quite a front for his five star quarterback, Drew Allar and so far the results speak for themselves.
The first-year sophomore starter has thrown eight touchdowns with no interceptions and has only been sacked twice through the first four games, all victories for the Nittany Lions.
But, one of his prize protectors stands out above the others.
For a right handed thrower, the left tackle is the gate-keeper and Allar is fortunate to have red shirt junior Olu Fashanu as his.
Fashanu could be a millionaire about 20 times over right now, had he left for the NFL draft last April.
NFL scouts projected him as a top 10 pick last season but the 6-foot-6 and 317 pound behemoth from the D.C. area decided to come back for one more year because he felt he had “unfinished business” at Penn State, returning primarily to help the Nittany Lions achieve loftier goals, specifically the Big Ten championship and a national title as two things on his hit list in 2023.
In a 31-0 demolition of No. 24 ranked Iowa on Saturday night Fashanu executed 38 pass block snaps without allowing a single pressure and his quarterback calmly tossed four touchdown passes without a pick or a sack (see cause and effect).
Olu Fashanu in Week 4 vs Iowa:
🔹 38 Pass Block Snaps
🔹 Zero Pressures Allowed pic.twitter.com/mwHPxXa8ts— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 25, 2023
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If the elite left tackle stays healthy he’s a virtual lock to be a top five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so the money will still be there and who knows, he might even have some shiny new jewelry to put on his finger to go with it.
“He’s an elite player,” Trautwein recently told reporters. “He could have left and been a top-10 pick, so when you have that coming back, you feel pretty good about it. You never really have to worry about anything.”
I’m sure his star quarterback would agree.
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
