Right away at rookie minicamp on Friday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, the Pittsburgh Steelers placed rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu at right tackle.
It’s never safe to really read much into anything related to rookie minicamp or even Organized Team Activities, but for The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly, the move to put Fautanu at right tackle right away signals what the Steelers are going to do along the offensive line.
Fautnau is going to start at right tackle, and second-year pro Broderick Jones is going to move back to left tackle. At least, that’s what Kaboly believes.
“You could play that off like, ‘Oh, it’s only rookie minicamp.’ But in my history of covering this team, there’s a reason why they put him at right tackle to start this thing off here. I’d be shocked to see him not there in a couple weeks,” Kaboly said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan’s PM Show. “All that tells me right now is you’re starting him, right? You already said that Dan Moore [Jr.] can’t play right tackle, you’re not moving Broderick Jones to the left and in some battle with Dan Moore.
“To me, and their thoughts right now, it’s going to be Broderick Jones at left tackle and Fautanu at right tackle and Dan Moore can be the swing guy. So it may look like it’s not a big deal, but I do believe it’s definitely an indication of where they’re gonna be going here soon, in the next week or two.”
The news that the Steelers had Fautanu working at right tackle during rookie minicamp was certainly eye-opening, considering he was a left tackle in college and played some snaps at left guard. He never saw game action at right tackle during his time at Washington, though he did state he got some work in at the position during practices.
There is nothing like game snaps though, so it’s going to be a transition for Fautanu. The Steelers, to their credit, appear to be getting that transition started quickly in hopes of having Fautanu be as comfortable as possible at right tackle before the pads come on in training camp.
Should the move of Fautanu to right tackle be a true indication of what the Steelers’ plans are, that would move Jones back to left tackle and place Moore in a swing tackle role. That would be for the best, should that be the Steelers’ true intentions.
Again, it’s only rookie minicamp and there were no pads on, but it was rather telling that Fautanu worked at right tackle the entire weekend. That development gives credence to comments GM Omar Khan made during the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine that the Steelers view Jones as a left tackle and would move him back to that position sooner rather than later.
That time appears to have arrived. It will be important to keep an eye on Fautanu and Jones during OTAs May 23-25 to see where they line up along the offensive line.
