The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2024 NFL Draft by selecting Washington tackle Troy Fautanu, and today I wanted to start my examinations series looking at and providing stat context for the position using Sports Info Solutions (SIS).
The data in this study looks at their final college season in 2023, focusing on the players who heard their names called in the draft, and some players were excluded due to SIS not tracking their stats. The goal is to see how Fautanu stacked up amongst his peers.
First, let’s look at snap totals for the offensive tackles last year:
Right away, we see Fautanu had the second most snaps among qualifiers in 2023 (924), trailing his former teammate in Roger Rosengarten by only one snap. That durability and availability is a very important and encouraging element of his season, along with good context for today’s study, and moving forward with the black and gold.
Next, let’s add quality context in run and pass blocking with SIS’s points above average metric (The total of a player’s EPA responsibility while blocking using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play. For blockers, this includes accounting for blown blocks, yards before contact on running plays, and performance given the defenders in the box.):
Less than desirable results here for Fautanu compared to his peers. The stronger number was a slightly above average 3.53 points above average in run blocking, which ranked 10th out of 23 players. His below the mean 2.3 pass blocking points above average came in at 16th, which I expected to be higher going into the study.
There were several names with better numbers than Fautanu in both regards, including five players that were comfortably above the mean in both pass and run blocking: Missouri’s Javon Foster, Arizona’s Jordan Morgan, Penn State’s Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Maryland’s Delmar Glaze, and Oklahoma’s Walter Rouse.
For comparison, here’s my 2022 College OT Stats Study following Pittsburgh’s first round selection of offensive tackle Broderick Jones, who was an above average player in both regards.
To wrap up, let’s look at a more total blocking view with SIS’s points earned metric (The total of a player’s EPA responsibility while blocking using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play.
Totals are scaled up to map to the average points scored or allowed on a team level, with the player’s snap count determining how much to adjust. For blockers, this includes accounting for blown blocks, yards before contact on running plays, performance given the defenders in the box.), and which NFL teams made their dreams a reality by selecting them:
Now we get a greater sense of the total value Fautanu added for Washington last year, ranking sixth in points earned. The Huskies stellar team that made it to the college football championships is part of that equation, but the data gives credit where it’s due, with Fautanu fitting the bill.
So, Troy Fautanu provided the second most snaps for his team, along with ranking sixth in total points earned. He also ranked tenth in run blocking points above average, encouragingly. The lowest mark was pass blocking points above average, ranking below average at 16th among the 23 qualifiers.
Fautanu was an important cog for Washington in 2023, with today’s article giving specific context to this notion, along with areas that he will hopefully grow in with Pittsburgh. While he didn’t fare as well as Broderick Jones the prior season, this duo should be a blast to watch in the black and gold in 2024 and beyond.
Throughout the offseason, I will dive deeper into the data as we continue to learn about the newest Pittsburgh Steelers. Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
