The Pittsburgh Steelers did not trade up from the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nor did they trade it away. Instead, they stayed put and selected Washington OT Troy Fautanu. Fautanu was a pre-draft visitor who former NFL DE Chris Canty said is “gonna be a Hall of Fame guy”. He helps address a major need along the offensive line.
Colin Cowherd may not necessarily share the same sentiment as Canty. On the Draft Reaction episode of The Colin Cowherd Podcast, Cowherd offered his quick thoughts on Fautanu going to the Steelers.
“Troy Fautanu is more of a right tackle,” Cowherd said. “A brawler, no finesse to his game.”
Cowherd does hit on one of the fundamental questions about Fautanu: Where is he going to play on the offensive line? Some people he’s more suited to playing on the interior of the offensive line. However, he played left tackle at Washington at an extremely high level. That was with a left-handed quarterback in new Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr., so the switch to right tackle does make some sense. Regardless, it does sound like the Steelers are going to keep Fautanu at tackle.
That’s likely because Fautanu has the footwork and athletic ability to play there. It’s interesting that Cowherd says that he’s just a brawler with no finesse. Is Fautanu a brawler? In Ross McCorkle’s scouting report, he highlights repeatedly the work that Fautanu can do at the second level in the run game, bullying defenders.
So yes, there is definitely some brawling, old-school mentality to Fautanu’s game. However, to simply pigeonhole him as that does a disservice to Fautanu’s skills and technique. Former NFL head coach Mike Martz did a scouting video for The 33rd Team and said that “his technique is better probably than 50 percent of the starters in the league when I watch him.” That’s more than just a straight-up brawler.
Just check out this clip of Fautanu at left tackle and tell me there’s no finesse to his game.
So when you combine a brawler with a skilled and athletic technician, you get Fautanu. That sounds like a recipe for success no matter where he starts on the offensive line.
