Penn State football offensive tackle Olu Fashanu has declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, he announced Friday. Fashanu said he will travel to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl, but whether or not he will play remains uncertain.

Thank you Penn State pic.twitter.com/tP1LG3EeQI

— Olu Fashanu (@olu_fashanu) December 22, 2023

“There aren’t enough words to express how impactful the last four years at Penn State have been. This football program, which has become my family, the Smeal College of Business and this entire Penn State community have taught me so much,” Fashanu wrote in a statement.

Fashanu spent the last four seasons playing for Penn State. He didn’t see any action his freshman year but made one start over nine appearances in 2021. He took over the starting left tackle job in 2022 and quickly became one of Penn State’s best, not allowing a single sack the rest of his college career and giving up low numbers of quarterback pressures over 646 pass-blocking snaps.

The Waldorf, Maryland, native could’ve been a first-round draft pick last year, but opted to return to Happy Valley for another year, citing his desire to achieve more “personally and collectively as a program.” He returned and was widely recognized for his success on the field, becoming Penn State’s 41st consensus All-American, All-Big Ten honors, and the Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Off the field, Fashanu completed his final semester and graduated from the university.

The 6’6″, 317-pound lineman is ranked No. 7 on ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper’s big board, but he is widely projected to be a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft with teams such as the Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears, and New York Jets seen as potential fits.

Fashanu has said in the past that he would travel to Atlanta with Penn State for the Peach Bowl and was still practicing for the team but didn’t disclose if he would opt out of the game. His statement didn’t offer any new insight.

Fashanu became the fifth Nittany Lion to declare for the NFL Draft and announce plans to play in the Peach Bowl, alongside fellow lineman Caedan Wallace, Theo Johnson, Daequan Hardy, and Curtis Jacobs. The lone outlier is Chop Robinson, who announced his intentions to declare for the draft and skip the Peach Bowl on December 5.