There’s been some speculation about whether Washington OT Troy Fautanu, who the Pittsburgh Steelers selected with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, needs to kick inside to guard or center due to his 6036 and 317-pound stature. But Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in a press conference after the selection that the team isn’t worried about his size, and that they “appreciate his stature” because it’s one of the things that probably helped him fall to the Steelers.
“He’s got great arm length, and his tape is very, very impressive,” Tomlin said. “It’s probably one of the reasons why he was available to us, so we really probably appreciate his stature, to be quite honest with you.”
Fautanu does have the arm length to play tackle, which Tomlin confirmed he will for the Steelers, as his arms measured in at 34 1/2 inches at the NFL Scouting Combine. While the height is smaller than usual, especially for a first-round tackle, the arm length should allow Fautanu to be fine as an NFL tackle. He also measured in with 9 1/2-inch hands and an 81 1/2-inch wingspan. The height may have scared some teams off from Fautanu, who was considered a candidate to potentially kick inside in the NFL as a guard or a tackle, but Fautanu feels that he’s a tackle and the Steelers feel the same way.
While the Steelers didn’t have Tomlin and Omar Khan attend Fautanu’s Pro Day, the team did send offensive line coach Pat Meyer, and Fautanu also came in for a pre-draft visit. Tomlin and Khan also went to the Alabama Pro Day, where Fautanu’s former college head coach in Kalen DeBoer took over the Crimson Tide program. Tomlin said they met with some of Fautanu’s old coaches during their time at Alabama and got to know more about him, which likely aided the team’s comfort in selecting him and keeping him at tackle.
The Steelers also could’ve moved back but didn’t want to move off Fautanu, so he’s a guy the team seems to really like. Fautanu was primarily a left tackle at Washington, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers try him at right tackle and get Broderick Jones back to his natural left tackle position. It’ll also be worth watching to see if the Steelers view Fautanu as a potential Day 1 starter or if the team will have him wait as it did with Jones last season.
Either way, his size isn’t a concern for the Steelers, and it’s going to be fun to watch Fautanu in action.
