In most years, if you’re drafting the seventh tackle off the board, you’re not doing it in the first round—but in most years, that seventh tackle isn’t Troy Fautanu, fortunately for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The stud out of Washington is a player many expected to go earlier, but with so many Tier-1 tackles, teams had their own preferences.
The Los Angeles Chargers took the first tackle off the board with Joe Alt at the fifth spot. The Tennessee Titans followed two spots later with JC Latham, the Jets taking Olumuyiwa Fashanu at 11. The New Orleans Saints added Taliese Fuaga at 14, and finally the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Amarius Mims at 18. By then, Fautanu might as well have been fuming, to hear Mike Tomlin tell it.
“We were laughing at him a little bit earlier because he looked angry because some tackles were coming off”, the head coach said after the first round about Fautanu, via the team’s website. “But you want that. You want a guy that takes it personally, and I think that he does. He just shows all the signs of the type of guy that we want to do business with. It’s important to him”.
For his part, Fautanu said that football is the only thing he thinks about and all he knows. He said that particularly for offensive linemen, you need to have a true love for the sport. How many are willing to ram their heads 70 times a game without a love for the game? Probably not many. But was Fautanu really mad as he slid down the board?
“I wouldn’t say I took it personal—I’m rooting for those guys because I met a lot of those guys along this process and they’re all really great guys”, he said, via 93.7 The Fan. “But the competitor in me, I guess, does take it personal. I’m just ready to pour everything into this organization and get ready to work”.
In all, nine offensive tackles came off the board in the first round, including Jordan Morgan and Tyler Guyton. Some of them may eventually kick inside—even Fautanu has inside versatility—but that speaks to just how deep the top of this tackle class was.
And that’s precisely why the Steelers needed to take advantage of the opportunity provided. Last year, they had to trade up from 17 to 14 to land Broderick Jones. This year, they sat at 20 and landed Troy Fautanu.
Fautanu doesn’t make it out of the top 15 in most years, even with reports of some injury concerns. Indeed, in some years he may even go in the top 10. Six different teams drafting a quarterback in the top 12 picks made this year particularly odd, though.
And think about that. Of the top 20 draft picks this year, 13 were quarterbacks or offensive tackles. That shows you what teams value and from where the talent is coming into the league right now. And if Fautanu wants to use his draft day slide as fuel to prove the six teams wrong who favored another tackle over him, then I’m all for that, too. Who am I to stand in the way of a good grudge?
