The Pittsburgh Steelers are attempting to switch a college left tackle to right tackle for the second year in a row with first-round pick Troy Fautanu, and Fautanu admitted the switch isn’t easy. Speaking to reporters upon arriving at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., for training camp, Fautanu said switching the footwork from left to right is difficult.
“Just hone in on my craft man, continuously getting reps at whatever I need to work on. The difference between left and right is just switching up the footwork, and that may sound easier than it is, but yeah, it’s difficult. But I know it’ll come with time, I’m just ready to take on the challenge,” Fautanu said via Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube.
For offensive linemen, their footwork becomes simple muscle memory after a while, especially when you log as many reps at a position as Fautanu did at left tackle in college. The Washington product played 2,037 snaps at left tackle and just two at right tackle, and despite cross-training in practice, it’s not an easy switch when a player is so used to playing one position. Fautanu will have training camp to work through it, and he’s confident it will, but it won’t be something that necessarily will click during the first few practices.
It’s going to take work, and Fautanu is going to get a lot of reps to improve and try to become Pittsburgh’s Week 1 starter at right tackle. He’s going to have to hold off a veteran in Dan Moore Jr., but Moore hasn’t been sound on the right side. It’ll make for an interesting competition and if neither guy can prove they can stick on the right side, the Steelers may have to reverse course and put Broderick Jones back at right tackle.
Fautanu did work on the right side during OTAs and minicamp, and Omar Khan confirmed that’s where the team wants him. So training camp is going to be imperative for him to continue retraining his body to make sure his footwork is correct for the right side compared to what he’s used to naturally doing on the left side.
The fact that he’s been working on the right side means it’s not just going to be a sudden switch, and the continual work should pay dividends. Eventually, it could click for Fautanu and he very well might wind up the team’s starting right tackle.
It just might take some time to click, and that’s what training camp is for. He’s going to be a player with a lot of eyes on him, and we’ll see if he can successfully make the switch ahead of Week 1.
