Expected to be selected within the top 15 of the 2024 NFL Draft, Troy Fautanu fell to the 20th pick. He’s not mad about his landing spot, a Steelers fan now playing for the franchise, but every pick worth their weight is prideful and wants to hear their name called as early as possible. Fautanu’s slide, given his athleticism, experience, and high character, was surprising, even if it was fortunate for Pittsburgh. Fautanu has a guess as to why he fell.
Appearing on the woefully named Softy & Dick, a Seattle radio station for KJR, Fautanu believes teams leaked injury concerns to get him to fall.
“I honestly have no clue,” Fautanu told hosts Dave “Softy” Mahler and Dick Fain about the origin of the injury concerns. “I talked to my agent and basically he was saying that a team later in the draft might’ve leaked it to try and get me to fall.”
Fautanu’s supposed injury issue came out days ahead of the draft, appearing on a list of medically flagged prospects in Albert Breer’s MMQB.
“Washington OT Troy Fautanu’s knee was flagged. That one was described to me as the sort of issue that shouldn’t be a problem in the short term but could wind up impacting his longevity in the pros.”
But on the surface, there wasn’t much to back it up. Fautanu was healthy throughout his career and the pre-draft process. Granted, a long-term concern might not be so easy to see on tape and if a player has an underlying concern, scar tissue, the risk of arthritis, they’re problems that are invisible until they become major. Pittsburgh has taken the chance on medically risky prospects in Omar Khan’s two drafts though Fautanu’s problems seem minor, if they exist at all, by comparison.
As he’s repeated since being drafted, Fautanu has zero concerns over the short- or long-term health of his knee.
“The last time I dealt with [my knee] was in 2021,” he said. “But I’ve never missed any games, never missed any practices due to it. So it was kind of random, honestly.”
Other factors may have caused Fautanu to slide. Six quarterbacks were selected in the top 12 picks, an NFL first, pushing down talent at other positions like cornerback and offensive line. It was a good tackle class with several taken ahead of him and some projected him to play guard, an idea he rejected, due to a lack of ideal height. However, his arms are longer than the 6-8 Joe Alt’s and match Broderick Jones’ length. The Steelers will give him first crack at tackle.
Frustrating as the rumors and fall are, Fautanu thinks it ultimately worked out in his favor.
“It’s part of the process. If maybe that hadn’t come out, maybe I wouldn’t be ending up in Pittsburgh,” he said. “So I’m kind of happy everything did play out the way it was supposed to.”
Once you’re drafted, nothing else matters. Your projection, the leaks, the mock drafts. All that matters is being the best player possible for the team that takes you. There’s zero concern for Fautanu there. He’ll be ready Day 1 when he reports to rookie minicamp May 10.
