In the build-up to the 2025 season, when talking about the offensive tackles for the Pittsburgh Steelers it’s the common thought that second-year pro Troy Fautanu is a known commodity, one that wows people and will be a key piece. On the other hand, third-year pro Broderick Jones is the huge question mark.
That is puzzling.
Sure, Fautanu was worth all the buzz last summer. He reportedly was the Steelers’ best lineman by far throughout training camp. But then he suffered a knee injury in the preseason opener, came back for Week 2, played well in Denver, and then was lost for the season.
But here’s the key point in any discussion that should be had about Fautanu entering the 2025 season: he has just 55 career snaps in the NFL.
Fifty-five! Five-five.
Yet, despite that key point, the general consensus is that Fautanu will be able to slide right back into right tackle and lock it down. On the other side, Broderick Jones is the biggest question mark. Even former NFL GM Doug Whaley stated earlier in the week on 93.7 The Fan that he’s really nervous about Jones.
You don’t hear that type of talk about Fautanu. It doesn’t make much sense.
Yes, there should be plenty of hype and excitement around Fautanu. Last year when he was on the field he was pretty good and the future looked bright. But he had two knee injuries last season, and he played just 55 snaps in the NFL. He still has a major adjustment in front of him entering Year 2.
There should be a great deal of questions regarding him and his outlook in 2025.
But all of those questions and concerns seem to center on Jones, who is making the move from right tackle to left tackle. Though it’s a largely a new position for Jones, he does have 129 career snaps, including 122 snaps in 2023 as a rookie.
In those 122 snaps at left tackle as a rookie, Jones was solid, grading out at a 53.0 against the Houston Texans and a 74.8 against the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. He allowed just four pressures in 65 pass blocking snaps in those two games, and looked the part.
The Steelers kept him at right tackle though, and he played nearly 1,700 snaps at right tackle across two seasons. Pittsburgh traded up in the 2023 NFL Draft to land him out of Georgia and have him be the franchise stalwart at left tackle. Now, after two years he finally gets a full-time shot.
Jones has the experience in the NFL, knows the speed of the game and the physicality, and how to get through seasons at this level. Fautanu doesn’t.
The belief is that Fautanu will be quite good at right tackle, and that might very well be the case right away this season. He has the talent and he looked good in his one-career start. But expecting him to be a seamless fit into the offensive line after missing so much time as a rookie with a pair of knee injuries seems just a bit reckless.
Fautanu is a bigger question mark than Jones at the moment for me, but nobody seems willing to address that right now. Maybe that becomes a storyline in training camp and the preseason once real football action gets underway. We’ll see.
Right now though, there’s just a bit of a concern with Fautanu for me. It can all go away quickly though.
