He played just 55 snaps before an injury in practice ended his rookie season, but those 55 snaps from 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round draft pick Troy Fautanu at right tackle were rather impressive.
Now, looking ahead to the 2025 season for the former Washington Huskies standout, it could be a breakout year for Fautanu at right tackle for the Black and Gold as the starter in the trenches.
Pro Football Focus at least seems to believe Fautanu is going to have a big 2025 season. In a piece highlighting the breakout candidates for all 32 teams in 2025, Fautanu was chosen as the Steelers’ early breakout candidate by Bradley Locker.
“Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. was on an expiring contract in 2024, and based on how he played down the stretch, it seems likely that Pittsburgh will move on. Fautanu, the team’s first-round pick last year, suited up on only 55 snaps as a rookie but produced a 69.3 PFF pass-blocking grade,” Locker writes regarding Fautanu for PFF.com. “The 24-year-old was elite during Washington’s run to the national championship, permitting only 23 pressures and two sacks, and appears in line to be the Steelers’ starting right tackle.”
After dealing with a knee injury in the preseason that kept him out of the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on the road, Fautanu returned to the lineup in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos and logged all 55 of his snaps in the 13-6 win over Denver in the Mile High City.
Shortly after that win in Denver, Fautanu was named the player of the game by Pro Football Focus. Against Denver, Fautanu played 55 of 66 snaps and graded out at a 64.4 overall.
Further film review showed Fautanu allowed just those two pressures in the win, which was rather impressive against a stout pass rusher in Denver’s Jonathon Cooper, who was coming off a two-sack, seven-pressure performance in the Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
For his first action in a regular season NFL game, Fautanu showed he was up to the task. He only came off the field in an early rotation with Broderick Jones in that game, but Jones struggled with penalties and was benched for the rest of the day.
Now, entering 2025 after Dan Moore Jr. struggled in the second half of the season and allowed the most sacks in the NFL on the year, it appears that the Steelers will flip Jones back to left tackle and insert Fautanu back into the starting lineup at right tackle once again.
Asking a guy that played just 55 snaps as a rookie due to a knee injury to be a stabilizing force along the offensive line seems like a big ask, but based on what Fautanu showed in limited action, it’s something he’s capable of handling. His presence should be a big boost to a rebuilt offensive line next season.
