90 In 30: Steelers 2026 Training Camp Preview Series — Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth - NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2026 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June, and next up is the team’s annual training camp, which will get underway in late July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of that, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers 90-in-30 roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, is organized alphabetically by last name for easy follow along. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.

The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers 2026 training camp are OT Troy Fautanu, C Zach Frazier, and TE Pat Freiermuth.

OT Troy Fautanu: Following his 2024 rookie season that included a lot of missed games due to a knee injury and some inconsistent play, Fautanu bounced back in 2025 to play incredibly well. Additionally, Fautanu, the team’s first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Washington, played in every game in 2025.

Fautanu did not miss an offensive snap during the 2025 season as the Steelers’ starting right tackle. That 100-percent snap 2025 season came on the heels of Fautanu playing just 55 offensive snaps during his rookie season. He received an overall offensive grade of 66.7 from Pro Football Focus, which charged him with allowing two sacks and 19 total pressures in regular-season action. Fautanu did allow one sack and four total pressures in the team’s lone playoff game last season.

All told, Fautanu was penalized three times during the regular season with two of those flags against him being for holding. His other penalty was for a false start. During the team’s lone playoff game last season, Fautanu was not flagged.

Despite Fautanu playing well throughout the 2025 season, he failed to receive any All-Pro votes. Had he been a better run blocker in 2025, he likely would have garnered a few of those prestigious AP votes.

Outlook: With one full NFL season underneath his belt, Fautanu seems very poised to have his best year as a pro in 2026, especially with the Steelers hiring James Campen as their new offensive line coach and Jahri Evans to be his assistant. Both Campen and Evans are former NFL offensive linemen with the latter having played tackle at an elevated level in the NFL.

Fautanu, who is expected to flip over to left tackle in 2026, should be expected to make a run at being both an All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2026. After all, Fautanu mostly played left tackle throughout his college career. He is also expected to continue playing alongside OG Mason McCormick in 2026, as like Fautanu, he’s also expected to flip sides this coming season.

Overall, Fautanu needs to become a better run-blocking tackle in his third NFL season and it’s not a stretch to think that it won’t ultimately happen. With more playing time in 2026, Fautanu should be able to refine his pass-blocking skills even more as well.

The Steelers will need to make a fifth-year option decision on Fautanu after the 2026 season, and presently there’s no reason to think that the team won’t ultimately decide to exercise that 2028 season. If that next-offseason decision becomes a debatable one next spring, odds are good that Fautanu did not live up to his expectations throughout the 2026 season.

OC Zach Frazier: The 2025 season was a solid second one for Frazier, whom the Steelers selected in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. He played every game in 2025 on his way to registering an overall offensive grade of 73.5 from Pro Football Focus.

All told, Frazier played every offensive snap during the 2025 regular season. PFF charged him with one sack allowed and 10 total pressures throughout the regular season. He was penalized three times during the regular season with two of those calls being for holding. His other penalty was a false start. During the team’s lone playoff game last season, Frazier was flagged for being ineligibly down the field on a passing play.

For his 2025 efforts, Frazier finished sixth overall in Pro Bowl fan voting at the center position and third overall in the AFC. Unfortunately, and while deserving, Frazier did not receive any AP All-Pro votes after the 2025 season ended.

Outlook: With two NFL seasons now underneath his belt, Frazier seems poised to have his best year as a pro in 2026, especially with the Steelers hiring Campen and Evans to coach their offensive linemen moving forward. Both Campen and Evans are former NFL offensive linemen with the former having played center.

Frazier should make a run at being both an All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2026. He is one of the NFL’s top centers at this point of his career and that’s a fine distinction to have with him only having played in 32 regular-season games to date.

The 2026 season will also mark the second one that Frazier will play with QB Aaron Rodgers and that’s exciting to think about, especially considering how the future Hall of Famer has raved about his young center. In short, Steelers fans should be excited to watch Frazier progress even more in both the running and passing game-blocking departments in 2026.

A year from now, we will likely be discussing Frazier signing a lucrative contract extension with the Steelers during the offseason and perhaps even one resulting in him becoming the highest-paid player at the center position.

TE Pat Freiermuth: After catching 65 passes for 653 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024, Freiermuth only registered 41 receptions for 486 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. That was likely mainly due to TE Jonnu Smith eating into Freiermuth’s playing time in addition to QB Aaron Rodgers not pushing the football down the field with any regularity in his first season in Pittsburgh.

Freiermuth, however, did play in every game in 2025 despite only logging 522 total offensive snaps throughout the regular season. He also logged another 32 snaps on special teams in 2025. All told, Freiermuth only played roughly 51 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in 2025.

More than half of Freiermuth’s 486 receiving yards in 2025 came after the catch (255). Additionally, the former second-round draft pick did not have any drops in 2025 as part of his 54 targets in the passing game. Freiermuth also logged a 68-yard reception in 2025, a new career best for him.

While Freiermuth’s pass blocking in 2025 was certainly above the line, his run blocking, at best, remained average overall. Close to 200 (181) of Freiermuth’s 2025 regular-season snaps included him aligning as an in-line tight end.

Outlook: The Steelers need more production from Freiermuth in the passing game in 2026 and with new HC Mike McCarthy calling the plays on offense moving forward, it’s easy to imagine that happening.

While Freiermuth’s receiving production should increase some in 2026, it will be interesting to see how much his overall snap count on offense increases from last year, especially if McCarthy utilizes more 11 personnel than the team used in 2025. All told, it’s hard to imagine Freiermuth not playing at least 60 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in 2026.

Freiermuth is who he is as a run blocker at this point of his career and it’s hard to imagine that phase of his game improving much in 2026. With the Steelers adding veteran WR Michael Pittman Jr. and rookie WR Germie Bernard this offseason, it should make life easier for Freiermuth in 2026 when it comes to getting more targets in the passing game.

Third-down and red-zone production are two areas where Freiermuth should be able to rebound for the 2026 season. All told, Freiermuth catching fewer than 60 passes for at least 600 yards and five touchdowns will be a huge disappointment. After all, he’s caught 60 or more passes in regular-season play three times so far during his NFL career and he’s averaged 10 or more yards per reception in three different NFL seasons as well.

Previous Posts In This Series:

90 In 30: Steelers 2026 Training Camp Preview Series — Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, Pat Freiermuth

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