Jason Fao, a defensive tackle out of Long Beach Poly High School in California, is an under-the-radar prospect being pursued by numerous schools on the west coast. He is rated by 24/7Sports’ composite rankings as a three-star recruit. Fao is also rated as the 790th best prospect in the 2014 class, as well as the 54th best defensive tackle and the No. 72 prospect from the state of California.
Jason Fao Recruit Scouting Report
Fao is a promising under-the-radar defensive line recruit. Here’s a scouting report on him.
At 6’1, 250 pounds, Fao has a large frame and will likely continue bulking up once he hits a college weight program. He has just two scholarship offers at the moment from New Mexico State and UTEP, though his recruitment could heat up in the coming months. He’s also receiving interest from UCLA and a handful of Pac-12 schools. Fao is yet to take any official visits anywhere.
Derrell Warren, West Coast Recruiting Analyst: Fao is a stout jumbo athlete who plays on both sides of the ball, but likely best projects to defense in college based on his height, low center of gravity in addition to his baseline skill set.
On film, Fao plays three positions along the interior defensive line for his high school team. He primarily lines up at nose guard but will flex over to the 3-tech position. He will even takes snaps lined up directly over the offensive guard as a two technique defender.
Has a strong initial punch and can get an offensive lineman back on his heels in a hurry. On the next level he projects to be a better interior disrupter than block eater. He has great snap anticipation and has a good first step off the line as he is usually the first of his team’s defensive linemen to get out of his stance after the snap.
Once out of his stance, Fao can be a bit rigid when flowing laterally. He plays with good vision and tracks the ball relatively well so that mitigates the tightness in his lateral movement to a certain degree.
At the high school level Fao drives centers and guard into the backfield with his core strength and powerful hands. It’s fair to have questions as to how that aspect of his game translates to the college level. He might fit best in a system that asks him to be disruptive at the line of scrimmage and shoot gaps, using his core strength to play through contact.
