The Pittsburgh Steelers took an unconventional approach to their right tackle competition in Week 2 when they gave the start to rookie Troy Fautanu over second-year man Broderick Jones. Although Fautanu started, they rotated the tackles for different drives. Or at least that was the plan until three penalties in six plays was enough for coach Mike Tomlin to pull Jones out of the lineup for the rest of the game.
Tomlin discussed why Fautanu got the starting nod in the first place during his Tuesday press conference.
“It was more reflective of what Troy was doing,” Tomlin said in via video posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Troy had been lighting it up. I don’t talk a lot during the preseason, particularly about rookies because it doesn’t help me and it doesn’t help them. But based on my actions in terms of putting him in the lineup, I’m sure you have an understanding of what I was looking at in team development.”
Tomlin also explained that rotations don’t bother him so long as “everyone is capable.” He confirmed that he thinks everyone is capable.
“I have very little knowledge about Troy’s level of conditioning, so it was appropriate,” Tomlin said of the rotation going into Denver.
Fautanu had a very solid outing against the physical Broncos. A week after rookie C Zach Frazier’s stellar debut, Fautanu also put his best foot forward in his first NFL game.
He was steady with his technique and his use of hands and allowed just two total pressures in a matchup against one of the most disruptive pass rushers in the NFL for Week 1.
Gerry Dulac and some of the other Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insiders have been stating that the Steelers already view Fautanu as their second-best offensive lineman on the roster. Presumably that would be behind OG Isaac Seumalo, who is working his way back from a pec injury suffered in practice a few weeks ago.
Fautanu’s preseason debut was a little shaky, but he cleaned up a lot of his errors in his regular-season debut. You can view a detailed film room breakdown of his play that I posted on Monday for deeper analysis.
The sample size is very small, but the Steelers look like they found two great cornerstones of the offensive line in both Frazier and Fautanu.
Tomlin also mentioned it’s appropriate for Jones to be given a chance to overcome his Week 2 struggles. We will see what form that takes, whether it is in practice or if they plan to rotate him in for a drive or two once again.
For what it’s worth, Troy Fautanu was officially listed as the starting right tackle on the depth chart for the first time today. That job is now his to lose, and I don’t see him losing it.
