It’s one thing to watch NFL players fly around on television, and another thing entirely to put pads on and practice with guys who have been in the league for years. When rookies come into the NFL, many of them say that the hardest thing to adjust to is the speed of the game. Most NFL players are absolute freaks of nature, even the big boys, so it’s easy to see why some rookies would struggle with this jump in competition. However, that’s exactly what practice is for, and one Steelers rookie seems to be using the best of his time during this adjustment period.
It wasn’t that long ago that Troy Fautanu was drafted, but as a first-round pick, he has a lot of expectations to live up to. With OTAs underway, he finally has the opportunity to see how he stacks up against some of the guys who have experience already in the league. Per Twitter video from The Trib’s Chris Adamski, Fautanu spoke about the change in speed from college to NFL practices.
“Yesterday was a lot different,” Fautanu said via Adamski. “Just the adjustment to the speed, especially the guys on the edge. Yeah, yesterday was a rough one, but today was a little bit better, and that’s what I’m hearing a lot from the guys as far as I’m gonna get better at [it], and emphasized that today, and felt like I did. I’m learning a lot from these guys.”
It makes sense that everything would be ramped up at an NFL practice compared to what Fautanu was used to at the University of Washington. With edge rushers like T.J Watt and Alex Highsmith around, as well as guys like Nick Herbig, the Steelers have no shortage of talent on the edge. Fautanu won’t see many better players when he actually gets in a game, so these practices should be great experience for him.
It’s similar to when Watt came into the league and struggled against Alejandro Villanueva. The first day is usually the worst, but the point is to get a little bit better with each day that passes. Fautanu seems to already understand that, as he said today’s practice went better than yesterday’s.
When the bullets start flying during the regular season, it’ll be days like these and ones during training camp that will build the groundwork for any success he has. The Steelers seem to be leaning more toward running the football and being much more physical on offense this year, and Troy Fautanu should be a big part of that.
