The Pittsburgh Steelers targeted an offensive lineman in the first round of the NFL draft for the second year in a row, selecting Washington’s Troy Fautanu with the No. 20 overall selection. Fautanu could be a Day 1 starter for the Steelers, and his ability to move people in the run game led ESPN’s Matt Bowen to name the Steelers the perfect landing spot for the offensive tackle.
“Fautanu can play multiple spots on the offensive line, but he is slated to start at tackle opposite Broderick Jones in Pittsburgh. Fautanu is a tenacious people mover in the run game, as he can drive defenders off the ball and climb to secure the second level,” Bowen wrote. “That meshes with the zone-heavy run schemes we will see this season under new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Fautanu also has the foot quickness, length and lower-body balance to kick back and mirror edge rushers in pass protection. I love the scheme fit, but I’m also looking at this as Pittsburgh targeting offensive linemen in the draft who can reset its identity up front. In addition to Fautanu, the Steelers added center Zach Frazier in the second round. That’s two tone-setters for a club that wants to run the ball.”
The Steelers are going to be a ground-and-pound team this year, and while Fautanu does fit Pittsburgh’s scheme under Arthur Smith quite well, Bowen is right about the Steelers looking to reset their identity. This is a team that has struggled building its offensive line, but in recent years, more of a focus has been made into rebuilding the line. By adding Fautanu, Frazier and Mason McCormick through the draft, the Steelers are committing to building up their line from top-to-bottom and embracing their identity as a hard-nosed team that’s going to win on the ground.
Pittsburgh’s line with Fautanu, Isaac Seumalo, Frazier, James Daniels and Jones next season has the potential to be one of its best in years. There’s no guarantee that Fautanu will start though, as the Steelers do tend to be cautious with their rookies. However, given Fautanu’s college experience, he very well may be able to slide in at either tackle spot.
Fautanu started just two games at right tackle in college, and it’ll be interesting to see if they do treat him as a Day 1 starter and what tackle spot he lines up at. While general manager Omar Khan has said that the Steelers want to move Jones back to the left side, his more natural position, at some point, given how few in-game reps Fautanu had at right tackle, he could function at left tackle with the team keeping Jones on the right side.
With rookie minicamp beginning today, we’ll see where Fautanu lines up, because it could be very telling for where he’s going to play when the season starts.
