Oklahoma Sooners true freshman’s debut against Michigan Wolverines provides glimpse at Oklahoma’s potential next first-round player
Michael Fasusi’s debut against the Michigan Wolverines was everything the Oklahoma Sooners were hoping for and more.
Everyone knew that as soon as Michael Fasusi signed with the Oklahoma Sooners as part of their 2025 recruiting class, it would only be a matter of time before the five-star phenom would become an impact player for the Sooners. Pairing a talent like Fasusi, who was Oklahoma’s highest-rated offensive line recruit of all time, with an offensive line coach of Bill Bedenbaugh’s prowess was a match made in heaven for both sides.
The hype only built throughout the spring and summer. Fasusi continued to dominate discussions and draw rave reviews. The closer we got to the season, it felt more and more like Fasusi might just outright take the starting left tackle job from the more experienced players in that room.
We were robbed of his debut in Week 1 against Illinois State due to him having a minor incident in the heat in practice just the week before. However, he was the starter in Oklahoma’s Week 2 showdown against the Michigan Wolverines, and he put on a clinic in pass protection all game.
I don’t want to get hyperbolic early, but he looks like everything the Sooners wanted-and more.
Michael Fasusi has the makings of Oklahoma’s next top NFL Draft pick
There hasn’t been anyone better at producing NFL-caliber offensive linemen than Oklahoma’s Bill Bedenbaugh. He is widely regarded as the best developer of collegiate offensive linemen in the country, and his reputation is well-earned for the sheer volume of prospects he has produced over the last decade with the Sooners.
Even with Bedenbaugh at the helm, however, I wasn’t expecting Fasusi to look like he did in his first game.
For a true freshman, I was stunned at just how technically refined Fasusi was in his debut. His hand placement and ability to reset and refit his hands is stuff I would mark as elite traits for a draft prospect. He’s a true freshman! He virtually shut down Derrick Moore and Michigan’s vaunted pass rush for an entire game.
I was blown away with how well Fasusi used his hands to keep Derrick Moore (34 5/8″ arms) at bay, and he consistently played within control, never letting any of the Wolverines’ ferocious beat him around the edge.
His anchor needed to be quicker to drop, but he had some tremendous moments where he would completely stymie any bull rushers in front of him. For being a true freshman in his first ever game, this wasn’t an easy task to go up against three very good Michigan pass rushers. The result? One pressure all game. One. Uno. Unum.
A single pressure, caused by a simple technical lapse.
You can see here how Fasusi tries to aggressive set on Moore, but he drops his head and lunges to try and establish first contact, something that an experienced rusher like Moore is gonna take full advantage of any time he can.
I’ll continue to harp on this point, but Fasusi is doing all of this as a true freshman. Some of the things he’s displaying as a freshman are things I’ve seen NFL tackles struggle to pull off consistently, and Fasusi let it rip from the get go.
I’ve truly never seen a freshman pull this off. Doing it in his first game against this level of competition? It’s almost mind-boggling.
There are some technical aspects I’d like to see him improve over time, of course. I’d like to see him continue to mix up his strikes and passing sets (and cut out the lunges, obviously) over time, but he already brings a tremendous floor as a technician. When you combine it with the physical ceiling that his frame and natural athleticism already brings, and we’re starting to enter rare air for a player, even for a university that has churned out some of the best offensive tackles in the NFL.
When he puts it all together and develops physically over time, Bill Bedenbaugh might just have put another offensive tackle in the first round.
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