Right tackle Troy Fautanu hadn’t been in pads since Week 2 of last year, but you might not have known it. Though he evaluated himself harshly, outside testimony indicates he held his own yesterday in practice. And he did so while lining up across from T.J. Watt, no less, the highest-best defender in NFL history.
Fautanu tore his MCL following his Week 2 debut a year ago, which ended his rookie season. He didn’t practice again until this spring, to which he acclimated pretty well. Yesterday marked his first full-contact work since his injury, however, which is a significant milestone. And he earned praise even from HC Mike Tomlin for it, which he uses sparingly for young players.
“I thought he represented himself well today”, he said of Fautanu, also citing his work against Watt. “As you mentioned, he really gets an opportunity to improve and improve fast because of who he gets to work against every day”.
The Steelers selected Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite missing time due to injury, they liked him so much they rushed him into the starting lineup. Indeed, they even planned to bench Broderick Jones, but Fautanu’s knee injury interrupted their plans.
This year, with Dan Moore Jr. gone, the Steelers intend to move forward with their young tackles. Broderick Jones is now on the left side, Troy Fautanu remaining on the right. And being on the right side means, more often than not, working against T.J. Watt.
According to Alex Kozora’s training camp observations on the day, Fautanu held his own against Watt. Though Watt beat him with an initial spin move, he at least managed to recover. On the following rep, he prevented Watt from getting to the edge.
Given what the Steelers just paid Watt, this might be alarming. Pittsburgh is hoping that Fautanu is just that good. And considering that’s basically what we’ve heard from reporters for roughly a year, that might well be exactly what they think.
When the Steelers drafted Troy Fautanu, they didn’t have much guess work. He had extensive experience starting in college, even if he did that at left tackle. He did have a right tackle background in high school, however, and he appears to have transitioned well.
But we have really only seen him in meaningful action across a few dozen snaps to this point. He played in one game, logging most of the snaps, then injured his knee. We will learn a lot more about Troy Fautanu later this year. Until then, we have just a bunch of practice, and glowing praise from beat writers.