Best Penn State player fits after the 2024 NFL Draft
How a player fits with a football team determines much of that player’s success or failure. Certain athletes are so talented that they can fit into any system, and others are so singular in their skill that the system is built around them. But the rest? They need to find the right situation to help them succeed. Penn State had eight players taken in the NFL Draft this past weekend, and several more were quickly picked up as priority free agents.
Today, we’ll see which Penn State players found the best fit and which will struggle to fit in. We’re only focusing on the drafted players, and we’ll first look at the good fits.
Penn State Best Fits
Hunter Nourzad – Kansas City Chiefs
As you can tell from the opening of this story, the organization’s quality plays a big factor in the conversation. So, players who fit well with a bad organization are still in a bad organization. The best marriage of organizational structure and scheme fit belongs to fifth-round pick Hunter Nourzad. There are several factors here that go into why he’s at the top of this list.
The first one is obvious. Any player who goes to play for head coach Andy Ried and blocks for Patrick Mahomes is in line to have team success. There’s a proven track record of adapting to talent and accentuating skills with Ried. Mahomes can make up for teammates’ mistakes and win a Super Bowl with a bottom-five receiving room.
Nourzad’s profile coming out of Penn State is a boom or bust. He’s got the physical tools to be a very good starting lineman in the NFL, but he struggled last season with the technical aspects of picking up and passing off stunts. Playing right away may lead to bad games for the former Penn State center.
Also, he’s got position versatility to fit any one of three potential openings for Kansas City that may come up on the interior in the next two seasons. The Chiefs picked Nourzad with an eye to the future, which was as good of a fit as you can find to maximize his high-end athletic skills.
Olu Fashanu: New York Jets
On the flip side of organizational stability from the Chiefs is the New York Jets. From a schematic and developmental fit, Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu fits very well within the Jets program as the tackle of the future behind Tyron Smith. He’ll get to learn from a Hall of Fame mentor and work on his run-game skills until he gets called into the starting lineup.
But if that’s not this year, will head coach Robert Saleh and his staff be around next year? The Jets are in win-now mode with Aaron Rodgers under center and likely will make some drastic moves if they don’t win this year in an ultra-competitive AFC East.
Again, the scheme and talent around Fashanu is different than in Kansas City. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hacket has been around the league since 2013 but has only had success in a very specific window with Aaron Rodgers at the top of his game. Can they truly replicate that in New York.
The biggest counterbalance to all of that is Fashanu’s game. He’s an elite pass protector and someone who, at the very least, should reach his peak in that area. We’ll see if he can become a complete player.
Adisa Isaac: Baltimore Ravens
In an effort to make this about more than just ranking which NFL teams are run best, we’ll slot Adisa Isaac below Fashanu for the overall combination of talent and fit, with talent winning an edge here.
But Adisa Isaac is going to a top-notch team with the Baltimore Ravens. We discussed his scheme fit with the team earlier this weekend and we don’t need to go much further than that. The Penn State edge rusher can maximize his strengths and hide his weaknesses.
It’s also a great fit for Isaac, who is stronger than his 249-pound frame but is still slightly undersized compared to his defensive line teammates. But all of that size around him should shield him from some of the worst assignements he could face in a standard 4-3 defense.
Lastly, Isaac joins the team without the pressure of Odafe Oweh, who was a first-round pick in 2021. That lack of pressure and scrutiny doesn’t change anything onfield, but perception is half of the battle.
Chop Robinson: Miami Dolphins
Initially, I was much more interested in Chop Robinson’s fit with the Miami Dolphins after the first round. That was before remembering/rediscovering that both Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb are returning from horrific, late-season injuries. Phillips tore his Achilles in Week 12 and Bradley Chubb tore his ACL in a Week 17 blowout loss to the Ravens.
So, while I still think the long-term fit with the Dolphins is a good one, he won’t have the schematic and personnel protection I expected after the first round on Thursday. The Dolphins need his pass-rushing skills, and he’ll have to show improvement against the run early in his career for the team to put him on the field as a three-down player.
But his profile could be hot-and-cold against the run more than outright poor. His quickness and explosive first step aren’t going anywhere, so as long as he contributes some TFLs in the run game, he should be able to hold down the fort until Phillips and Chubb return.
Kalen King: Green Bay Packers
Talk about a resurrection for Penn State cornerback Kalen King. “We’re moving to a little bit of a new defense,” GM Brian Gutekunst said after the draft. Former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley joined the staff this offseason, bringing a new defensive scheme into town. Hafley is from the Robert Saleh style of defense and has ties to the new quarters and two-high coverage schemes that are popular in the NFL right now.
In this regard, King’s 4.60 40-yard dash is less important, though no team wants slow corners. But in schemes that use multiple deep safeties, the coverage area is smaller for each player on the outside, meaning King won’t need to cover as much ground as he would have in the Packer’s old system.
Gutekunst was high on King’s long-term potential, too.
“He’s got some versatility to play outside [and] nickel as well. I think his best football is ahead of him.”
So why does he land at the bottom of this fit check? Well, the issue is that Green Bay selected three defensive backs ahead of him in the draft. They knew they would need to reshape their personnel on the back end and selected several other players to fill those roles before King. So, while King has slot, corner, and safety potential, he’ll have an uphill fight to secure a spot. The good news is that he fits well in the system and could one day see a shot to start.
The post Best Penn State player fits after the 2024 NFL Draft appeared first on On3.
