Not for a second have the Pittsburgh Steelers tempered expectations over first-round pick offensive tackle Troy Fautanu. Though much of his rookie year was lost due to two knee injuries, his brief time in the lineup gave the organization even more confidence that he was the right selection. Beat writer Ray Fittipaldo detailed those feelings during a Friday interview with 93.7 The Fan.
“But I wanna say probably from July 24th or 25th, I think until August 9th when that injury took place, they probably had 14 to 15 practices,” Fittipaldo told The Fan’s Joe Starkey. “And they were convinced he was their best offensive lineman. Not their best tackle. They thought he was better than Isaac Seumalo.”
Fittipaldo’s words follow reporting from last summer. The team’s glee when Fautanu fell into their laps with the 20th overall selection, sliding due to a heavy quarterback class that dominated the first dozen picks. Even after his MCL sprain, Pittsburgh’s plans to work him into the lineup were only briefly derailed. Sitting out Week One, he rotated with RT Broderick Jones in Week Two before finishing out as the starter after a disastrous drive from Jones banished him to the bench. Fautanu would’ve held the starting role had it not been for a season-ending knee injury suffered in practice days later.
Our summer evaluation of Troy Fautanu wasn’t quite as glowing, but noted flashes.
“His actual camp was good. While he’s not the biggest tackle with “guard height,” he has length and a big and powerful lower half. It allows him to explode out of his stance, and it’s hard to beat him around the edge when he takes a good set. The sack he allowed against Hunter was due in part to his set not getting enough depth and width, Fautanu more vertical because of the 3T in his gap. Point is, on his normal 45-degree kick set, he’s a hard man to run around.
T.J. Watt praised him for varying up his sets, Troy Fautanu, an experienced tackle who knows how to keep rushers off balance. The biggest and most consistent negative I saw in camp was him being prone to getting beat to the inside, and he’ll have to work on redirecting against interior counters a bit better. But the traits are there. Had he stayed healthy, I could’ve evaluated his run blocking a bit better, something that can be harder to do watching camp live.”
We gave Troy Fautanu a B-grade, second-best of any Steelers’ tackle only behind Dan Moore Jr.’s B-plus.
Though he was only a rookie and touted higher than veterans like Seumalo, Fautanu was a 24-year-old senior with a more refined game than typical Steelers’ first-round picks.
“He’s polished from a technique standpoint,” Fittipaldo said.
Healthy now, Troy Fautanu will have every chance to meet Pittsburgh’s confidence. He’s entrenched as the team’s starting right tackle, the depth chart cleaner with Moore leaving for Tennessee and Jones flipping over to left tackle. Like the rest of the young front five, there’s serious potential. But that also means there’s plenty to prove, and Pittsburgh needs its young draft picks to meet the moment.
If not, the running game won’t be successful, Aaron Rodgers won’t be protected, and the Steelers will be starting over, needing to invest in quarterback, offensive line, and receiver next offseason.
