The Pittsburgh Steelers landed both a top tackle in Troy Fautanu and a top center in Zach Frazier in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. And they didn’t have to do anything special in order to do so. All they did during the draft was wait. In 2023, they made an aggressive move by trading up in the first round to get T Broderick Jones.
But they felt good enough about the variety of options at 20 this year to sit tight. While general manager Omar Khan had to suck down the Tums, he got his guys. Indeed, the Pittsburgh Steelers organization got their guys.
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Steelers “can’t believe they got them”. Here he is referring to Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier. Many projected Fautanu to go higher than 20, perhaps in the top 10. Frazier also received some first-round projections. Many Steelers fans convinced themselves the team needed to trade up to get him.
If the Steelers “can’t believe” their luck in getting both, according to Florio’s source, then presumably they also didn’t anticipate avoiding a trade-up scenario, either. But I suspect Pittsburgh was open to the board in the second round with a huge need at wide receiver. They could have taken Adonai Mitchell, for example, who went right after Frazier.
After three wide receivers went off the board early the second round, no others did until after the Steelers picked. They also could have taken Malachi Corley, or Roman Wilson—whom they eventually took in the third round. Staying put really paid off for the Steelers, not just for Fautanu and Frazier.
Indeed, barring last year’s move up three spots in the first round, the Steelers are proving patient on the boards under Khan. They even traded back on Day 2 last year, though they didn’t want to move off of their picks this year. With Frazier, Roman Wilson, and ILB Payton Wilson, they got arguably the best player available where they picked them.
I can only imagine the Steelers are extremely pleased with how the draft has unfolded thus far. While they surely hope to land a cornerback and perhaps a defensive lineman, they’ve hit major wants or needs with their premium selections and with very intriguing prospects.
That’s especially the case for the offensive line, with Fautanu and Frazier putting the finishing touches on a major rebuild. Including free agents James Daniels and Seumalo and Jones last year, the Steelers have completely remade the room in the past 25 months.
