Will Fano’s versatility make him a valuable commodity?
If there’s one constant at the NFL level, it’s that every team always needs offensive linemen.
It isn’t just the New York Giants — there are 64 starting offensive tackles, 64 starting guards, and 32 starting centers in the NFL, but not that many good starters. Include depth and future concerns at the various positions, and every team can always use another good lineman.
Utah tackle Spencer Fano is entering his junior season, but he has the potential to be a sought after prospect whenever he enters the NFL Draft. He’s athletic, competitive, and highly versatile in his technique and alignments.
Just about any team can find a place for him in their offensive line room. And considering the Giants always seem to have questions on their offensive line, they should probably be paying attention.
What he does well
Spencer Fano has solid size for an offensive tackle. He appears to match up with his listed at 6-foot-6 height, though he looks bigger than the listed 302-pound weight. Regardless of his actual measurements, he carries his weight well and is a solid athlete for the position.
Fano is a versatile lineman and is coming into the 2025 season with 13 starts at right tackle and 11 starts at left tackle. He should be able to project to either tackle position at the NFL level.
He’s an easy mover when asked to slide laterally and is explosive when blocking downhill. Fano quickly hits his landmarks in pass protection and has the requisite mobility to redirect back inside or mirror athletic rushers off the edge.
Fano is a reliable pass protector who’s able to match up against speed or power under most circumstances. He has a relatively smooth kick-slide with little extraneous or wasted movement. He’s also a natural knee bender who’s able to drop his hips and play with good leverage. That helps maximize his play strength to sustain blocks or diffuse power from bull rushers.
He plays with solid competitive toughness and strains to sustain his blocks for as long as possible. He has solid grip strength when locked in and does a very good job of using his feet to deal with power and stalemate bigger defenders. He also has very solid awareness to pick up late pressure due to blitzes or looping defenders.
Finally, Fano is a versatile and capable run blocker. As mentioned above, he’s explosive when firing off the ball, engaging defenders with good leverage and driving them off the ball. He naturally uncoils his hips once he’s under their pads, leveraging them and driving them off the ball. His athleticism and movement skills also translate well to zone blocking schemes as well as blocking at the second level.
What he needs to improve
Fano’s primary area in need of improvement appears to be his hand usage.
He flashes good hand usage when he’s balanced and in rhythm. However, if he finds himself off balance trying to match a defender who is particularly athletic, powerful, or skilled, his hands can suffer badly.
Fano has a slight tendency to let his hands drift wide while moving lateral, either kick-sliding in his pass set or redirecting back inside. Those wide hands can fail to find opponents’ chest plate or are easily swatted aside by defenders. Not only does that limit Fano’s ability to control the defender, but he can be prone to lunging.
Those lunges not only sacrifice Fano’s balance, but force him to give up his chest plate as well as his ability to anchor against power.
Final thoughts
Spencer Fano might not be an “elite” prospect at the offensive tackle position, but he should be a very good one.
He has a very solid foundation that should allow him to push for a starting job very early in his career, and his exceptional versatility should make him attractive to pretty much any team. Fano has the ability to play left or right tackle, as well as execute any blocking scheme commonly called at the NFL level.
Fano obviously still has work to do in 2025. There are certainly rough patches in his game, and he needs to become a more consistent technician to take his game to the next level. That said, he has the potential to be an easy and safe pick for pretty much any team when he enters the draft.
