Buy Or Sell: Broderick Jones will be stuck at right tackle after the Steelers drafted Troy Fautanu.
Explanation: While the Steelers said throughout the offseason that they still see Broderick Jones as a left tackle, they didn’t commit to moving him there—ever. They insist that he’s versatile enough to excel at right tackle, and they must do what’s best for the team. Now they have another first-round tackle who is only a left tackle and is more entrenched there than Jones was. The easiest way to get a rookie on the field, additionally, is to only ask him do what he already knows how to do.
Buy:
Look here, friend. The Steelers are not going to sit through another season with Dan Moore Jr. as their starting left tackle. That means that they need rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu to play sooner rather than later. And that means that Fautanu needs to play left tackle, because that’s all he knows how to do.
Fautanu is a left tackle. He says that he’s willing to play anywhere and probably believes that he can play anywhere. But just look at the numbers. He had over 2,000 career snaps at left tackle and two a right tackle at Washington. He played 98 more snaps as a guard than he did as a right tackle in college.
That’s what he does. Unlike Broderick Jones, who played left tackle at Georgia but also regularly practiced at right tackle. There’s a reason that Jones looked reasonably comfortable there, because he’s used to repping on the right side.
Jones also profiles better as a right tackle than Fautanu does. Put simply, Fautanu at left tackle and Jones at right tackle is better for the long term than the reverse. It’s not a bad thing to have too many tackles who can handle the left side.
Sell:
The Steelers drafted Broderick Jones to be their left tackle. They are on record stating that they believe he is their left tackle of the future. Jones prefers to play on the left side, as well. And Fautanu has the intelligence and physical attributes to play up and down the line.
Don’t sell Fautanu short by suggesting that he needs to play on the left side in order to play early. Give him an offseason soaking everything in on the right side and you’ll see that he can take to it just fine. They can also use his rare mobility as a particular asset in the run game there.
With the Steelers’ 2023 season in the rearview mirror following a disappointing year that came up short in the playoffs once again, it’s time to start asking more questions. Questions about the team’s future in 2024 and beyond. Questions about The Standard.
The rookie class of a year ago was on the whole impressive, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2024. And they likely need a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2024 NFL Draft yet again. In addition to a revisitation of the coaching staff.
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
