How Penn State football’s first-round draft picks will fit with their new NFL teams

Penn State’s first two players came off the board during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night. Offensive tackle Olu Fashanu was taken by the New York Jets at No. 11 while edge rusher Chop Robinson went No. 21 to the Miami Dolphins.

The two teammates will be division rivals in the AFC East to start their NFL careers, and could face off during their rookie seasons and beyond.

Let’s take a look at the likelihood of each playing early and what their long-term outlook is with their new organizations.

Olu Fashanu to the New York Jets

Despite Fashanu going No. 11, there is no guarantee he starts right away. The Jets have Tyron Smith locked in at left tackle and Morgan Moses set to start at right tackle, but that doesn’t mean Fashanu won’t see snaps as a rookie.

Smith dealt with a back injury last season, and Moses tore his pectoral muscle in 2023 and had surgery on it this offseason. Both are 33 years old and neither tackle is guaranteed to stay healthy this year — and, frankly, it’s more likely that one misses games — potentially opening the door for Fashanu to see the field. The interesting aspect of this is whether he would be the replacement if Moses went down on the right side. Fashanu exclusively played on the left side at Penn State and transitioning to the opposite side of the line is not always easy. If the Jets decide to cross-train him on both sides, he should serve as a swing tackle for his rookie season and get a handful of starts based on the age and injury history of the team’s projected starters.

Short-term, that would mean protecting Aaron Rodgers in the passing game when called upon as the Jets try to maximize the final years of his career. Beyond this year, there’s no guarantee that Rodgers will continue playing — he’ll be 41 in December — and that likely means a retooling will be in the near future for the Jets.

The door will be wide open for Fashanu to be a major part of that as the long-term blindside protector for whoever the team’s next quarterback is, and he should be a building block for the team’s offense moving forward.

Chop Robinson to the Miami Dolphins

Robinson went 10 picks later than Fashanu but has a much better chance of making an impact as a rookie.

Like his former Nittany Lion teammate, he has two veterans in front of him who suffered injuries in 2023. But unlike the situation with Fashanu, Robinson’s two Dolphins teammates could still be recovering when the 2024 season rolls around. Jaelan Phillips suffered a torn Achilles, while Bradley Chubb suffered a torn ACL, with both injuries occurring late in the season. Although both should be back at some point in the coming season, the Dolphins might need a starter in the short term and Robinson has a strong chance to slot in right away — especially because of the immediate impact he can make as a pass rusher.

That could open the door for him to have more of a role than he otherwise would when Phillips and Chubb are both back at full strength, especially if he proves to be a better run defender than he currently is.

While that will help him in the short-term, the long-term outlook is much murkier for Robinson than it is for Fashanu. Phillips has only two years left on his rookie contract, but he’s a high-level pass rusher who isn’t the type of player teams usually let walk out the door in free agency. Chubb was acquired in 2022 for a package that included a first-round pick and signed a contract extension with Miami that could keep him there through at least the 2027 season.

That being said, teams rotate their pass rushers plenty, and Robinson should get plenty of reps. But there still isn’t a guarantee that a starting role opens up through the first two years of the former Nittany Lion’s rookie deal.