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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 rookie class included several immediate contributors. Unfortunately, that list did not include Troy Fautanu, who missed the season due to injury after making his first NFL start at right tackle in Week 2. When he was drafted, there was a lot of uncertainty about where Fautanu would play. Incumbent starters Dan Moore Jr. and Broderick Jones left the offensive tackle room crowded. However, according to Steelers insider Gerry Dulac, it appears the team was fine playing Fautanu at guard as well.
“I will tell you, when they drafted him last year, they thought, if they had to, they would play him at guard if they were going to leave Broderick Jones at right tackle and Dan Moore at left,” Dulac said recently on Steelers Nation Radio. “They were completely comfortable with that idea when they drafted him, that he was totally capable of being that guard.”
That’s an interesting tidbit from Dulac. Going into the draft, there was a lot of speculation about where Fautanu would play in the NFL. Although he was mostly a tackle in college, he did get some work at guard. And his profile seemed to indicate that he might be better off at guard in the NFL.
After drafting him, the Steelers started him out at tackle. Throughout the offseason, he got work on the left and right side. Eventually, he started to rotate more with Jones at right tackle. It sounded like he impressed the team at that position.
That’s probably why Fautanu stuck at offensive tackle during his short work last year. The Steelers were impressed with his abilities there, not seeing a reason to bump him inside. He was about to take Jones’ job, but then a dislocated kneecap took him out for the year.
It would’ve been interesting to see how Fautanu would’ve been deployed as a guard. Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels both didn’t seem in jeopardy of losing their spots. Perhaps that could’ve changed had the Steelers given Fautanu some work at guard, but we’ll never know for sure.
Going into 2025, it seems almost sure that Fautanu will play tackle. Moore is scheduled to be a free agent, and it seems unlikely that the Steelers will retain him. If he leaves, Jones and Fautanu will almost certainly be the team’s starting tackles. However, if that doesn’t go well, the Steelers could see how Fautanu performs at guard.
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