The Opening Drive 4/27: Spencer Fano's Move to Left Tackle Comes With Experience

First-round tackles switching sides in the NFL is intimidating, but this one feels different.

WACO, TX - SEPTEMBER 09: Utah Utes lineman Spencer Fano (55) drops back to block during game between the Utah Utes and the Baylor Bears on September 9, 2023 at McLane Stadium in Waco, TX. (Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

For Browns fans, optimism about a first-round offensive tackle switching sides has a very specific, very painful expiration date — it’s somewhere around the time they remember Jedrick Wills Jr.

The parallel is hard to ignore. When the Browns selected Wills with the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, they immediately announced plans to move him to left tackle after he had played right tackle throughout high school and his entire three-year career at Alabama. The front office and coaches displayed nothing but confidence and rightfully so, Wills was plenty talented.

It started well enough. Wills earned All-Rookie honors in 2020 and looked like the blindside anchor Cleveland had been starving for. But the promise never fully materialized and the dominance he displayed on the right side at Alabama never materialized on the left side in the NFL. His career halted due to progressive issues in effort and likely tied to lingering knee issues — he suffered an MCL injury in November 2023 and appeared in just 13 of a possible 34 games since the start of that campaign. By 2025, Wills didn’t play for the Browns at all and moved on to try a new chapter with the Chicago Bears this offseason.

Now here come the Browns again — a new first-round tackle, another position switch, another round of “trust us.” This time it’s Fano going back to the left side after two dominant years at right tackle in college. Here we go again, but this time it is different.

---

Below you’ll find the latest in the BFB catalog for supporters to dig into. Click the link to become a supporter if you haven’t already, and enjoy all the latest from Browns Film Breakdown.

Latest Podcasts:

• Monday After the Draft Check-In, and Browns UDFA Analysis

• Browns 2026 NFL Draft - Day Three Recap

• Recapping Rounds 2&3, Breaking Down the Browns Three Selections, Day 3 Best Available, and Rounds 4-7 Mock Draft

• Recapping Round 1, Breaking Down the Browns Selections, League-Wide Trades, Day 2 Best Available, and Day 2 Mock Draft

Latest Articles:

• Browns Trade Up Again to Select Offensive Tackle Austin Barber 86th Overall

• Browns Trade Up to Select Safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren 58th Overall

• Browns Keep Adding to Wide Receiver Room, Select Denzel Boston 39th Overall

• Browns Draft KC Concepcion 24th to Bolster Wide Receiver Room

• Browns Trade Down With Chiefs, Select Utah Offensive Tackle Spencer Fano

• KC Concepcion is this Draft's Most Versatile Weapon

Latest Film Rooms:

• FILM ROOM: KC Concepcion Draft Pick Profile and Scouting Report

• PROSPECT FILM ROOM: Spencer Fano, Offensive Tackle, Utah

---

---

Apr 24, 2026; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns first round draft pick Spencer Fano talks to the media during an introductory press conference at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Browns’ Hall-of-Fame Inductee Joe Thomas weighed in on the tackle-switching concerns directly, saying the problem with Wills was never the position change — it was “motivation and desire.” It’s tough to argue Thomas’s point, but there is little doubt it took Wills time to feel out the side switch and his left hand dominance, once on the inside when aligning at right tackle, never transferred to his outside punch on the left side. While Wills didn’t fail entirely because of the switching of sides, it did play a role. But we also won’t ignore the impact of injuries, attitude questions, and unmet expectations.

And Fano’s résumé arrives with considerably more experience where it matters most. Sure, he had the awards on the right side, but he also has something Wills didn’t: actual left tackle starting experience at the college level, having started 12 games at left tackle as a true freshman before moving to right tackle for his final two seasons.

When Utah’s coaching staff decided to move Fano from left tackle to right tackle ahead of his sophomore season, it might have looked like a demotion from the outside but it was more about the comfort of his teammate and a willingness to do whatever the teams needs.

Fano had made an immediate splash as a true freshman in 2023, becoming one of only two true freshmen in all of Division I to start at left tackle to open the season. While it was uneven to start the season against a good Florida defense he eventually settled in at just 19-years old to have a strong season. Notice the reps in here against new teammate Tyreak Sapp at Florida (94) and 2024 first-round pick (15th overall—Colts) Laiatu Latu from UCLA. Fano more than held his own.