The Pittsburgh Steelers added to their offensive line with the selection of OT Troy Fautanu with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he’s already heard from Isaac Seumalo, whom he also met during his pre-draft visit with the team. According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Fautanu told reporters on a conference call that Seumalo reached out to him after the Steelers selected him in the first round.
“Isaac Seumalo actually reached out to me. I met him when I was there in Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, and getting a text from a guy like that, a vet guy that’s been around the league so long,” Fautanu said via audio provided by 93.7 The Fan.
Seumalo is a lead-by-example player for Pittsburgh’s offensive line, someone guys have credited for being one of the leaders of the unit. The selection of Fautanu continues the Steelers’ desire to build up their offensive line, as in recent offseasons they’ve signed James Daniels and Seumalo to hold down the guard positions. Now they’ve drafted Fautanu in the first round just a year after the team took offensive tackle Broderick Jones in the first round.
It’s obviously good to see Seumalo welcoming his new teammate and someone he could wind up playing with on the line this season. It remains to be seen whether the Steelers intend to use Fautanu at left tackle, the position he primarily played in college, or if they’ll move him to right tackle to allow Broderick Jones to go back to his natural left tackle position. Fautanu only played two snaps in right tackle during his career at Washington, so it might be a projection to move him to the right side but it would make sense if the Steelers want to move Jones to the left side.
While the Steelers will figure out all that later, there’s little doubt that they added a talented player to their offensive line tonight. The Steelers did confirm that he’s going to play tackle despite speculation that he might bump inside in the NFL, and they passed up an opportunity to trade down to stay and select Fautanu. The team is clearly excited about his prospects, and he’s already getting off to a nice relationship with one of his teammates. Fautanu should hopefully help anchor Pittsburgh’s offensive line for years to come and comprise a bookend at tackle with Jones.
