One of the Jets most promising young talents is the team's emerging offensive lineman, rookie Olu Fashanu.
"I think Olu is a special talent," veteran right tackle Morgan Moses said. "And not, not even just from a football standpoint, just who he is as a person, as a man, what he demands for himself every day."
Demands. The Green & White's first-round draft pick (No. 11 overall) out of Penn State this past April has quickly encountered unanticipated demands. In 2023, he was named the Big Ten's Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year -- as a left tackle. But his baptism under fire in the NFL began on the other side of the offensive line, far from the position he's played since first putting on pads.
In his young NFL career, he has already played three different positions across the O-line -- right tackle (spelling an injured Moses), right guard (stepping in for an injured Alijah Vera-Tucker) and finally left tackle (starting last week against Indianapolis for the injured Tyron Smith).
In last Sunday's game against the Colts, Fashanu found himself in his preferred and more-familiar position -- left tackle -- with Smith unavailable.
Asked for an assessment of Fashanu's play, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said: "Pretty well, like this kid is, like I'd said before, is exactly what we thought we were getting in him. He's intelligent, he's athletic, he's big [6-6, 312], powerful. He checks all the boxes other than experience. So the more he plays, the better he's going to get."
Against the Colts, Fashanu, 21, took all 51 snaps on offense and an additional 5 snaps on special teams. And even though he was back at his preferred position, he offered an honest critique of his performance.
"Definitely not my best performance," he said, adding: "It's hard. It's hard. I think being a tackle in the NFL, being an offensive lineman in the NFL, is a very difficult job. And you know, it's really cool for me to see the best of the best. Guys like Morgan, Tyron go out there week in and week out, and make it look easy. But I think being a professional is making the hard look easy."
With the Jets off until facing visiting Seattle on Dec. 1, the veteran Smith will have more time to recover from his neck injury. Fashanu is certainly poised to step back in at left tackle, or anywhere else his talent is needed along the O-line. When he spelled Vera-Tucker at right guard against Houston, Fashanu called the situation "a bit weird."
"I'm just glad I helped the team win when they needed a guy to step up," he said, referring to the 21-13 Thursday night victory over the Texans. "Just watching the film, it was definitely a bit weird to see me at right guard. All my life, I'm watching myself at left tackle."
From the other side of the offensive line against the Colts, Moses said he saw a young player putting all the knowledge and support he's absorbed in his few months in the NFL to good use.
"Hey, you're the first-round draft pick, go out there and make it happen," Moses said. "But people don't see the backend work that he puts in there every day, morning and night. I'll get random text messages 'what do you think about this?' That's a guy that's willing to work on his craft and willing to strive for greatness. So when you see him go out there and operate the way he does, and obviously, it's not perfect. None of us are perfect, but you see him go out there and play with the intent of being a great offensive lineman. That's what you see."
