After Troy Fautanu’s preseason injury that forced him to miss about a month, he was inserted into the starting lineup earlier than many expected with his debut coming last week against the Denver Broncos. His play justified that decision pretty quickly.
He looked up to the task of being this team’s starting right tackle for a long time with a very strong NFL debut, and he did it in a difficult matchup against OLB Jonathon Cooper.
A.Q. Shipley, a Pittsburgh native who was drafted by the Steelers in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft, broke down Fautanu’s debut on X.
“He embodies everything about what the Pittsburgh Steelers want to do on offense and what that city has embodied for years and years on offense,” Shipley said of Fautanu. “Tough, physical brand of football.”
I broke down Fautanu’s debut earlier in the week in a film room, and looked at many of the plays that Shipley included in his evaluation. Fautanu was aggressive, technically sound, and looked pretty polished for a first career start at the NFL level.
These are some of the reasons that the Steelers made him their first-round pick in April. They were surprised he fell to them at the time. Many had Fautanu as one of the two or three best tackles in the draft, but he fell a little further than expected. Steelers GM Omar Khan described the experience as they waited to see if Fautanu would fall as nerve-wracking. Fautanu later revealed that they called him well before they were on the clock to make sure he wasn’t getting any other calls from other teams.
After just one game in the preseason, reports from Steelers insiders indicated that the team already was planning on starting Fautanu at right tackle. Gerry Dulac said that the Steelers already view him as their second-best O-lineman.
“Pittsburgh has got an absolute dog at right tackle,” Shipley said emphatically.
Unfortunately, Fautanu tweaked his knee during Friday’s practice which has left his Week 3 status in question. If he is unable to go, Broderick Jones will get an opportunity to bounce back after a string of bad performances.
