Pittsburgh Steelers OT Troy Fautanu will get his first taste of the AFC North on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns travel to Pittsburgh. It’ll also be the first time he will see Browns DE Myles Garrett up close and personal.
Fautanu won’t face Garrett on every snap, of course. But when Garrett lines up against him, Fautanu knows it’s going to be a tough task. After all, Garrett has 106.5 career sacks, 124 tackles for a loss, and 208 quarterback hits. But Fautanu feels ready for it, thanks to lining up against Steelers OLB T.J. Watt in training camp.
“There was no chips in training camp,” Fautanu said Friday, via the team’s YouTube channel. “It was one-on-one every play. I felt like I thrived in that. Obviously, T.J.’s gonna win some, but man, I tried to bring it every single day and do my best to block a guy like that. You go against a guy that has a lot of things in his arsenal, prepares you for Sunday. So just excited for this matchup.”
T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett are inextricably linked. They’ve been two of the best pass rushers in the NFL since they entered the league in 2017. Fans constantly compare them in large part because they play for divisional rivals. And it’s because both of them are that good that it helps players like Troy Fautanu prepare for major matchups.
And that goes both ways. Watt enjoyed matching up against Fautanu, saying that practicing against the 2024 first-round pick “challenges me.” That’s high praise from a pass rusher who has 111 career sacks. However, Watt is probably used to going against less athletic offensive tackles. After all, most teams’ best tackles play left tackle to protect their quarterback’s blindside. That’s not to say right tackles aren’t valuable, but usually your most athletic and talented tackle plays on the left side.
So, Watt says facing Fautanu helped him get better. Head coach Mike Tomlin watched Watt and Fautanu battle it out in training camp, and Fautanu impressed him. Hopefully for the Steelers’ sake, Fautanu’s performance when he goes against Myles Garrett on Sunday will impress Tomlin, too.
