Pittsburgh Steelers rookie OT Troy Fautanu suffered a mild MCL sprain in his preseason debut. He was just beginning to see more first-team snaps, putting him on a timeline to start in the opener. With him likely missing a couple weeks, however, that jeopardizes his chances of starting right away.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes it’s still doable for Fautanu to win the job in time. He is going to start sooner or later, and that was never in question. It was always a matter of when, as soon as the first game.
“He’s gonna have two weeks or so after that Lions preseason game to get back to where he was”, Fittipaldo said of Fautanu on the KDKA Cochran Sports Showdown last night. “He was running with the starters, so if he can show them in that two weeks’ time—I know it’s practices and not games—but I’m telling you, people in that building love him, and I think he was on course to be the starter. So we’ll see what happens now”.
The Steelers, of course, love Troy Fautanu, which is why they drafted him in the first round. The rookie is a polished college tackle with dozens of starts under his belt, unlike 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones. Jones, whom they traded up for in the first round, took nearly half a season to crack the starting lineup.
And when he did crack the lineup, it was at right tackle, where Fautanu would start. But the Steelers want to move Jones to left tackle, and they need Fautanu starting at right to do that. This fact does help his case to start sooner rather than later.
I sense that Jones is growing frustrated not knowing where he’s going to start. Fautanu’s injury doesn’t help provide any clarity. “Well, the injury throws a monkey wrench into it, but he was certainly on that track”, Fittipaldo said about the rookie starting the opener.
The Steelers have invested heavily in their offensive line lately, including three draft picks in 2024. In addition to Troy Fautanu in the first round, they also drafted C Zach Frazier in the second and G Mason McCormick in the fourth. A year earlier, they traded Broderick Jones in the first round and signed Isaac Seumalo in free agency. In 2022, the Steelers added two starters via free agency in James Daniels and Mason Cole. They have since released Cole, however, with Frazier projected to start in his place at center.
Despite his ample college experience, Fautanu played left tackle at Washington. While he played right tackle in high school and repped there some during Washington practices, it is still a transition for the rookie. He struggled with it initially, but he has been working there exclusively all offseason. His preseason debut showed there is still room for him to improve, so the injury is a serious setback. But if he can get back quickly, at least Fittipaldo believes there’s still time to start the opener.
