Leading up to the 20th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers saw the draft board break quite well for them Thursday night.
But when the Steelers were on the clock, GM Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin knew what to do: land Troy Fautanu.
The Steelers made the Washington standout offensive lineman the selection Thursday night, addressing the offensive line in the first round for the second straight season. In the process, even with the phone ringing off the hook with the Steelers on the clock, according to Khan and Tomlin, the Steelers simply weren’t moving off of Fautanu at No. 20.
“Yeah, I mean the phone was ringing obviously to move up, move back. It’s just part of it,” Khan said of the moments leading up to the selection, according to video the Steelers’ YouTube page. “And at the end of the day, we had the opportunity to move back if we wanted to. But when we were at 19 and waiting for the Rams to make their selection and they picked who they picked, we just weren’t gonna move.”
“We weren’t moving off Troy,” Tomlin added.
There had been some question about his overall fit in the NFL, whether that’s at left tackle or kicking inside to guard or center. Tomlin and Khan quickly shut down that talk, stating that they are viewing Fautanu as a tackle and that they aren’t worried about center or anything else, instead focusing on tackle.
During the post-draft press conference Thursday night, Tomlin and Khan both praised Fautanu for his demeanor on and off the field, calling him a Black and Gold type player through and through, which shows up on tape during his time in Washington.
Throughout the pre-draft process, the Steelers showed quite a bit of interest in Fautanu. Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer attended Washington Pro Day in Seattle and put Fautanu through positional drills at the Pro Day. The Steelers also reportedly met with Fautanu and his family privately before the Pro Day, and then Pittsburgh hosted him for a pre-draft visit.
For the second year in a row, the Steelers addressed the trenches on the offensive side of the football in the first round, continuing to build the team the way that Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl envision, which is through the trenches on both sides of the football. Fautanu is another piece to that.
Based on everything Khan and Tomlin said Thursday night, Fautanu is a player the Steelers coveted throughout the process and are ecstatic to land. Now, let’s see how he fits.
