Height: 6-6
Weight: 308
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: Bernhard Raimann

2026 NFL Combine Results

Pros of Spencer Fano

• Supreme functional athleticism allows him to attack ambitious landmarks and connect to blocks in space
• Foot fire is sudden and allows him to shadow and mirror pass rushers in space
• Athletic ability allows him to press the issue with blockers once he’s created momentum as a finisher
• Like his urgent play demeanor, he does well to find work and stay busy
• Should have little issue thriving in outside zone concepts that stretch the perimeter

Cons of Spencer Fano

• Lean, athletic frame could use some more bulk, he can be uprooted out of his base at times and power rushers who are willing to take him down the middle with length will test his anchor
• Does not appear to play with ideal functional length; can get outreached and manipulated by hands — he’ll need to refine and master hand-t0-hand combat
• Applied pressure on blocks can lead to raising pad level and cut down his leverage

Background

Fano is from Spanish Fork, UT and played his high school football for Timpview HS. There, he was ranked as a 4-star recruit (247Sports) and highly coveted as an offensive tackle recruit. He collected offers from programs such as Oregon, Michigan, Clemson, and others before opting to stay in-state and enroll at Utah. Fano’s family has extensive NFL ties — including his uncles Gabe Reid (Chicago Bears), Spencer Reid (Carolina Panthers), Teni Palepoi (San Diego Chargers), and Anton Palepoi (Denver Broncos & Seattle Seahawks). He’s a three year starter for the Utes, logging 36 starts for the program.

Fano was twice named First Team All-Big 12 (2024, 2025), a Freshman All-American in 2023, twice named All-American (2024-2025), granted the honor of the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year in 2025 and also won the Outland Trophy this past season before declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft. He’ll turn 23 years old in May after the draft.

Player Evaluation

Fano is an impressive athlete. It’s not hard to see the physical gifts and movement skills that should afford him every opportunity to be a successful player on the edge in protection. The best elements of his game are present with quickness out of his stance, acceleration to the second level, his ability to cross the face of defenders and gain leverage of a gap and his mirror skills in space. You see active feet that effortlessly fire with frequency — it isn’t often you catch him with a stale base or leaning into his blocks.

That athleticism does come at a cost, as his functional strength and core power should be regarded as developmental. His movement skills come with a lean build that doesn’t have a heavy anchor or easy power to tap into as a means of uprooting bodies. He’s more of a zone fit in this regard, where he can get attached to bodies and stay engaged while steering defenders to allow ball carriers to cut off of his frame. Fano does do well in double teams thanks to notable pop at first contact to create momentum, which he sustains throughout the block.

In pass protection, Fano thrives with his framing to force rushers to steepen their angles. When he’s clean out the blocks, he’ll force a steep turn at the top of the arc in the path to the quarterback. Too often he’ll leave himself vulnerable due to anchor and functional strength questions to allow defenders to press him past his set point, however — he can be tested down the middle or alternatively be ridden deeper into his set and worked back inside. He’ll need that stiff inside hand to establish himself more firmly in obvious drop back passing situations.

I love his aggressiveness. That said, he may be in for a few lumps with discipline with a one-yard buffer past the line of scrimmage on play action and RPOs. He pushed that envelope with a deeper range downfield at the college ranks. Fano projects as an early starter and would be best implemented in a zone-heavy run scheme, particularly in an offense that works the ball to the perimeter. His three-year projection is sky-high, even if he may take some more lumps as a rookie if charged with starting immediately.

A to Z Rankings

A to Z Big Board Ranking: 6th overall, OT2

A to Z Draft Grade: 9.49/10.00

Draft projection: Early First Round

NFL Draft

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Adam Holt

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