Left tackle, right tackle, you could put Troy Fautanu at tight end and it wouldn’t really matter to him. All he’s focused on is doing his job. Which means keeping his quarterback upright.
Though it’s notable that Fautanu flipped from his college home at left tackle to right tackle for his first NFL practice, the shift is more dramatic for outsiders than it is for him.
“Regardless of if the quarterback can see my rusher or not, I gotta block the guy,” he told reporters in video shared by Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker. “So that’s my mindset whether or not I’m on the backside or the front side.”
Fautanu played most of his college career at left tackle and spent the past two seasons protecting QB Michael Penix Jr. But Penix is a lefty passer, meaning Fautanu wasn’t on his blindside. While that could make the transition to right tackle for right-handed quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Justin Fields a challenge, he feels comfortable wherever the team moves to line up, crediting his college coaching for the preparation.
“Shout-out to my coach back in college,” he said via Becker. “He did a really good job of making sure that we were able to play both sides…whenever we do [individual] drills or drills that we do every single day, we’d do right stance, left-hand stance.”
After taking him 20th overall, the Steelers didn’t disclose if he’d function as the team’s left or right tackle, only confirming that they had no plans to move him inside. Time will tell if Fautanu will stick on the right side. Broderick Jones isn’t even here yet, the whole roster unable to participate until OTAs later this month, but the Steelers’ intent seems to be flipping Jones back to his college spot of left tackle. He spent most of his rookie season playing right tackle but admitted he’s more comfortable on the left side.
Muscle memory will be the biggest adjustment for Fautanu. Reprogramming his feet and hands to step and punch in the opposite direction. Though it’s a far cry from the NFL, he played right tackle in high school, which could reduce the learning curve as he flips back to his old spot before becoming a college left tackle.
