NFL Draft week is finally here, and plenty of former Penn State Football stars will anxiously await hearing their names called in Detroit.

In the fifth iteration of his top 150 prospect list, NFL Network’s draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah placed five former Nittany Lions among his top 150 prospects for this week’s draft.

After an entire pre-draft process, here are where these five stack up among other top prospects four days before the 2024 NFL draft begins.

Penn State Football Top NFL Draft Prospects to Watch

15 overall- Olu Fashanu

Left tackle Olu Fashanu continues to rank in the top half of the first round ahead of this week’s draft.

After allowing only one sack in his two seasons starting at left tackle for Penn State, Fashanu is expected to hear his name called within the first half of the first round Thursday night.

Jeremiah mentions that Fashanu possesses “Ideal size, length, and strength for the left tackle position,” continuing he “has all the tools to be a solid starting left tackle once he cleans up some small areas of his game.”

Without chaos happening Thursday night, Fashanu will be the first Nittany Lion to hear his name called this year.

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21 overall- Chop Robinson

Penn State Football defensive end Chop Robinson is one of the most polarizing players projected in the first round of this week’s draft.

Although Robinson is a bit undersized compared to many NFL defensive ends, Jeremiah points out that Robinson “is an extremely twitched-up edge rusher” who is “incredibly explosive.”

Robinson grades somewhere in the late first to early second round, depending on the mock draft, but the consensus seems to be that he will hear his name called in the later half of round one Thursday night.

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73 overall- Adisa Isaac

Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac may be the Nittany Lion who benefitted most from the pre-draft process.

Isaac drew plenty of attention at both the Senior Bowl (earning ESPN’s Louis Riddick’s practice MVP) and the NFL combine (earning a very respectable 8.99 RAS score). Here in Daniel Jeremiah’s latest prospect list, Isaac’s placement at 73 overall should put him in contention as a day two prospect.

 

Adisa Isaac is a DE prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 8.99 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 182 out of 1798 DE from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/tL8dU9IN5n pic.twitter.com/MBwNa5ajsV

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 21, 2024

 

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82 overall- Theo Johnson

Theo Johnson showed off elite traits at the NFL combine, earning him an elite RAS score of 9.93 (9^th all time out of 1,199 tight ends from 1987 to 2024). Because of Penn State’s high use of two tight ends, Johnson’s stats are below other tight end prospects in the 2024 draft class, but his tape and athleticism show that he can be a great NFL prospect. Jeremiah’s placement of Johnson at number 82 overall makes him a solid day two consideration as well.

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109 overall- Hunter Nourzad

The final Nittany Lion on Daniel Jeremiah’s list is center Hunter Nourzad at 109 overall.

Nourzad had a good season after moving from guard to center in 2024, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. Nourzad’s position at number 109 on Jeremiah’s list suggests that he could be an early day-three pick but could jump into day two if a team falls in love with him.

In addition to the five players on this list, Penn State Football has plenty of day three candidates to make a splash on new teams next season and beyond. According to 247Sports’ Grant Hughes, Penn State is projected to have the second most draft picks in the 2024 NFL draft with 10 players potentially hearing their names called this week.

If ten Nittany Lions are selected, it would be the most picks in a draft for the Penn State program since 1996.

MORE: 3 Penn State Transfer Portal Targets to Watch

 

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