The offensive tackle competition hasn’t exactly played out the way many anticipated during training camp and the preseason. After selecting Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, many thought the Week 1 starters would be Fautanu and last year’s first-round tackle Broderick Jones. Fautanu suffered a minor knee injury in the first preseason game, but Gerry Dulac reported shortly after that he was already viewed as the Week 1 starter at right tackle.
The injury timetable should allow for him to be healthy by Sept. 8 when the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Atlanta Falcons to open the regular season, but how much practice does he need in order to be fully prepared to start?
“If Fautanu doesn’t practice this week—and they only practice through Wednesday—I can’t see them starting him in Atlanta,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo said on the #1 Cochran Sports Showdown via CBS Pittsburgh’s YouTube channel. “So that’ll make it easy. Broderick will be on the right. Dan Moore will be on the left.”
Dulac did start to walk back his report about Fautanu starting Week 1, so it seems to be the way things are trending right now.
When will Fautanu enter the starting lineup if not in Week 1? If the team really was that high on him to be the Week 1 starter, it should come sooner rather than later. But reflecting back to a year ago, the change with Jones didn’t come until Week 9.
Certainly an injury to either Jones or Moore could accelerate the process, but the preseason performance of all three tackles complicates things for pulling the trigger on change as soon as Fautanu is healthy and ready.
Fautanu struggled in his first preseason game. It was his first live NFL action, so it’s hard to be too disappointed, but he allowed two sacks and looked like he was still adjusting to life on the right side. Jones also struggled, particularly in the second preseason game, and is playing through some injuries. Meanwhile, Moore has performed the best of the three throughout the preseason.
The better long-term play is to get the first-round tackles in the starting lineup so the young offensive line core can start to jell for the future of the unit. But it is hard to justify taking out Moore given how the preseason played out.
Appearing later on Post-Gazette’s North Shore Drive, Fittipaldo said Broderick Jones could be the odd man out if Fautanu resumes practicing this week. That would be an even more interesting development as Jones would have to work his way back into the starting lineup once again.
The change could still happen relatively early in the season if Moore plays as poorly as he did throughout 2023. There are some notable pass rushers on the Steelers’ schedule early in the season. Circle the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Chargers as a possible turning point for the tackles. Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, and Bud Dupree could force a conversation about change.
