The selection of Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu at No. 20 overall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft Thursday night by the Pittsburgh Steelers was not a surprise, in terms of the interest the team showed in the former Huskies standout throughout the pre-draft process.
What is a surprise though is that the Steelers view him as a tackle. Head coach Mike Tomlin made that clear Thursday night when discussing the draft pick, which raises some questions, specifically regarding second-year offensive tackle Broderick Jones, about whom the Steelers stated this offseason they want to move back to left tackle.
Now though, that doesn’t seem quite clear. So, it created a bit of a debate between myself and Ross McCorkle regarding Jones and his best fit moving forward for the Steelers following the selection of Fautanu. Two different minds, fresh arguments…away we go!
Let us know who made the better argument and what side of the debate you come in on in the comments below.
Today’s topic is…
WITH THE SELECTION OF TROY FAUTANU, SHOULD THE STEELERS MOVE BRODERICK JONES TO LEFT TACKLE OR KEEP HIM AT RIGHT TACKLE?
ROSS MCCORKLE — KEEP BRODERICK JONES AT RIGHT TACKLE
The mission to get Jones back to the left side was made more complicated with the drafting of Fautanu. While Khan has stated that he drafted Jones last year in the first round to be a left tackle, there is nothing holding the Steelers to that statement. In fact, it would create the same set of issues with a younger player to force Fautanu over to the right side right away.
Jones had 19 starts in college at left tackle. He then had one more in Week 5 of his rookie season before making the change over to the right side for the Steelers’ final 11 games, including the playoffs. With 20 total left tackle starts and 11 total right tackle starts between college and the NFL, we are talking about Jones being more experienced on the right side by Week 10 of the 2024 season if he stays there.
Yes, he was a little rough around the edges in pass protection down the stretch of last season. That can be partially attributed to him switching sides, but some of that was going to be the case regardless due to his relative inexperience out of college. He was never viewed as this ready-made, highly experienced, or polished tackle when he was drafted.
Fautanu, on the other hand, had 29 college starts at left tackle. He wasn’t on the blind side because QB Michael Penix Jr. is a lefty, but he has 29 games of muscle memory and experience on the left and almost zero experience on the right with just two total snaps at RT.
It would be a shame to kick Fautanu over to the right just to see him struggle with the same learning curve that Jones experienced. One would think Jones is nearing the end of that learning curve on the right side with over half a season of experience over there. And let’s not forget how effective Jones was as a run blocker on the right side. The ground game came alive when he was inserted into the lineup. It isn’t as if his tape was all bad.
I am not saying there is an obvious or clear answer. It will ultimately be worked out on the field in OTAs and training camp to determine who fits in which position. I just think it would be unwise to immediately move Fautanu to the right because of Khan’s intent when Jones was originally drafted.
And let’s not forget that head coach Mike Tomlin, the guy who makes the decisions on who is starting where, was much less committed to moving Jones back to the left following the season.
“Undecided as of yet,” Tomlin said in the post-season press conference via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Obviously he has capabilities in that area, but he was more than capable at right tackle as well.”
JOSH CARNEY — MOVE BRODERICK JONES TO LEFT TACKLE
I have to admit that initially on Thursday night following the selection of Fautanu, I never even truly considered that the Steelers viewed the Washington product as a tackle. I thought that there was a great chance that the Steelers were the one team that viewed him as a center, like NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah reported last week.
But that all changed when Mike Tomlin stated that they view Fautanu as a tackle. He only played left tackle in his career at Washington, outside of two games at left guard. So, a move to right tackle doesn’t seem to be in the question, right?
I don’t see it that way.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler and even Jeremiah believe Fautanu has great position versatility. Brugler even wrote in his draft guide “The Beast” that Fautanu has five-position versatility. While he is the latest first-round pick by the Steelers, he should the one to move to right tackle, allowing Broderick Jones to flip back to left tackle, which is where the Steelers traded up to draft him to play.
That’s an important part of all of this to remember. The Steelers gave up draft capital to move up in 2023 to land Jones, a player they view as their franchise left tackle long-term.
Though Jones started 11 games last season at right tackle, he looked unnatural at times and really hit a rookie wall late in the season, struggling in pass protection. He allowed a season-high five pressures in the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Don’t get me wrong: Jones had some great moments at right tackle last season and was an impact player in the run game, but he really struggled down the stretch in pass protection and just did not look comfortable at right tackle.
Playing out of position at right tackle, Jones allowed 25 pressures after becoming the starter at the position in Week 9. Thirteen of those came in the final four weeks of the regular season. He then allowed another five pressures in the playoff loss to the Bills. He struggled with his hand usage, pad level, and footwork in his pass sets late in the season and really had a tough time against some experienced pass rushers.
GM Omar Khan stated at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine that Jones will “eventually be a left tackle.” Though he praised his versatility and stated it’s important along the offensive line when building the unit, the Steelers clearly targeted Jones in the 2023 NFL Draft, gave up some draft capital to move up to get him and had him pegged as the answer to their left tackle position woes.
Time to make that plan come to fruition and put the Georgia product where he belongs: left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
