Second-Gen Star Could be 1st OL Picked, 2024 NFL Draft
Notre Dame's Alt, Penn State's Fashanu Top Picks to be NFL First Offensive Lineman Drafted

Multiple Offensive Linemen Could Go In The Top 10 In The 2024 NFL Draft
Much of the discussion at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft has to do with the quarterbacks and the possibility that the top three players chosen could be quarterbacks.
What about the players being asked to protect the franchise quarterbacks? Four names are emerging as likely options to be the NFL First Offensive Lineman Drafted.
Notre Dame‘s Joe Alt, Penn State‘s Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Oregon State‘s Taliese Fuaga, and Alabama‘s J.C. Latham are the offensive linemen with the potential to be selected in the first half of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Four offensive linemen went in the first 14 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, it could be argued that fourth-round selection Dawand Jones might have been the offensive linemen who played at the highest level among the 2023 rookies when looking at the 2023 NFL stats.
The NFL preseason schedule will be a good time to see how the top college offensive linemen are adjusting to the NFL.
Here’s a look at the top four offensive linemen available in the NFL Draft. The first round will be on April 25.
Joe Alt, Notre Dame
A three-year starting left tackle at Notre Dame, the 6-foot-9, 321-pound Alt trails only receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers in the odds to be the first non-quarterback selected.
His performance at the NFL scouting combine was among the best at the offensive tackle position with time of 5.05 in the 40-yard dash, a 1.73 mark in the 10-yard split, and a 3-cone drill time of 7.31. It is not a surprise that he is leading the way in the odds to be the NFL First Offensive Lineman Drafted.
Playing against elite competition for three years at Notre Dame should give NFL teams a pretty good reference point. It doesn’t hurt that his father was a two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman in the NFL.
Alt has +1000 odds to be the first non-quarterback selected. He is sixth at +1700 to be picked fourth overall and he has the best odds of +225 to be the selection with the fifth pick. He comes in at -175 to be picked seventh.
Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
There was a time when Fashanu was viewed as the top offensive line prospect in the draft. He has fallen off a bit from that after a solid but unspectacular showing at the combine.
He has +700 odds to be the first offensive linemen selected and his odds to be the first non-quarterback draft have moved from +550 to +8000 since mid-January.
He is not as refined as some of the other top prospects as only started one game as a redshirt freshman and was limited to eight starts as a sophomore due to injury. The 2023 season was the only one when he started through the entire season without missing time or being relegated to a backup role.
Fashanu earned not only All-American honors in 2023 but he was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, commonly referred to as the Academic Heisman so he does bring intangibles to the table.
Fashanu is in a tie for second at +700 to be the choice with the seventh overall pick and is fourth at +950 to be picked ninth.
Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
Perhaps no offensive lineman has improved his stock more since the 2023 season ended than Fuaga as he is now at +2800 to be the first offensive lineman to come off the board when looking at the NFL odds to be the NFL First Offensive Lineman Drafted.
Unlike the two players ahead of him among offensive tackles, Fuaga has played exclusively on the right side in college as he started 25 games at right tackle over the last two seasons after being a reserve in his first two years with the Beavers.
Fuaga is tied for second at +750 to be the seventh pick and is second at +600 to be drafted 10th overall.
JC Latham, Alabama
Latham’s NFL Draft odds are all over the place. Certainly, playing at Alabama gives him plenty of opportunities to be in high-profile games.
Latham had a strong showing at the combine and he has some positional versatility as he got some snaps at guard early in his career before taking over as the starting right tackle for the Crimson Tide in 2022.
At 342 pounds, he has the most bulk among the top four offensive line prospects. If teams aren’t sold on at the next level, it could cause him to fall a bit on draft night.
Oklahoma‘s Tyler Guyton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, and Brigham Young’s Kingsley Suamatala are all coming in with better odds than Latham to be the NFL first offensive lineman drafted later this month. Where the offensive linemen land in the first round could be determined by the recent NFL free agency signings.