Fashanu was a stud in pass protection during his college career, surrendering just 17 pressures with zero sacks and just one quarterback hit on 697 opportunities, per PFF. That’s primarily due to his impressive athleticism, exemplified by a 9.58 RAS out of 10.
However, the former Nittany Lion isn’t a great run-blocker and only has experience playing on the left side of the line. He has the athletic ability to flip side of the center, but Antonio Pierce has talked about getting back to a physical brand of football and Fashanu doesn’t fit that description, pushing him down the board.
4) Troy Fautanu, Washington
Of all the big men on this list, Fautanu is the “smallest” at just under 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds. Still, he can move people in the running game and would be a good fit in a zone-based rushing attack that the Raiders are rumored to run under Luke Getsy.
Similar to Fashanu, the Washington product’s experience is almost exclusively at left tackle which, combined with his size, are the biggest reasons why he’s ranked lower.
If you’re looking for a more detailed breakdown of Fautanu, Marcus Johnson dives into his game on the episode of Tape Don’t Lie below.From the smallest guy on the list to the biggest, the 6-foot-8 and 340-pound Mims was built in a lab to play offensive line. It also doesn’t hurt that his arms are a little longer than 36 inches. He can move defensive linemen out of the way as a run blocker and has good feet in pass protection.
The problem is the former Bulldog is very inexperienced with just over 800 snaps during his three-year college career. Also, he suffered a couple of ankle injuries last season and is the biggest project of the five tackles listed here. Drafting Mims would be a gamble and while his traits are worth betting on, he’d be a better target if Las Vegas decided to trade back in the first round rather than stay at No. 13.
