The right knee injury that Troy Fautanu suffered in the Steelers' first preseason game against the Texans in August seems to have delayed the inevitable for the 2024 first-round pick as Fautanu has taken a firm grasp of the right tackle position.
After making his first NFL start in his professional debut this past weekend in Denver, Fautanu was listed as the starting right tackle Tuesday when the team released its depth chart for their home-opener against the Chargers on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
During his weekly press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, Mike Tomlin said the decision to start Fautanu against the Broncos was a product of what Fautanu had showcased during his opportunities in the preseason and the week of work leading up to the game.
"Troy had been lighting it up," Tomlin said. "I don't talk a lot during the preseason, particularly about rookies, because it doesn't help me and it doesn't help them, but based on my actions in terms of putting them in the lineup, I'm sure you have an understanding of what I was looking at in team development."
The game plan on Sunday was to rotate Fautanu and Broderick Jones at right tackle but Tomlin did not go into extensive detail about what that rotation would have looked like. However, he did say they elected to use a rotation due to concerns surrounding Fautanu's conditioning level after returning from injury.
"He's a young guy. He's new to me. He's new to the NFL," Tomlin said. "I didn't know how fatigue would affect his play in terms of detail, and so he tried to ward off some of that."
That plan went awry in the second quarter when Jones was called for three penalties -- two holding and a false start -- that killed a drive that started at the Steelers' 1-yard line. It was showcasing promise as Justin Fields was orchestrating the offense down the field in small increments, while also dealing with multiple penalties. After Jones' second holding penalty, which occurred on 2nd and 18 on the Steelers' 43-yard line, he was pulled from the game in favor of Fautanu and never returned.
Fautanu played the remainder of the game and was in on 55 of the Steelers' 66 offensive snaps. He didn't allow a sack or a quarterback hit and didn't commit a penalty during his time on the field.
"Some of the things that he's shown us has nothing to do with, you know, anything other than pedigree," Tomlin said. "He's really talented and that is very evident."
In typical Tomlin fashion, he isn't gifting Fautanu the starting position either. While he's been impressed with what Fautanu showcased before his injury and what he's done since returning, Tomlin said he has no problem with using a "rotation when everyone is capable."
As far as Sunday goes, Tomlin doesn't yet have a plan in mind but added that he'd give Jones a chance to bounce back from his penalty-filled performance.
"We got a week of preparation, and I'd be disrespectful to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if I had a hardcore plan in mind about how I was gonna roll those guys, man," Tomlin said. "I'm gonna give Broderick an opportunity to rebound. He's a talented young player. I'm sure he suffered some disappointment in terms of Troy starting, it's a natural thing, but he's got to move past it, and I got to give him an opportunity to move past it as a leader."
Tomlin said that the quality of participation, from both Fautanu and Jones, would be the guide this week for how reps are divided up during practice.
Jones will also continue to fill the role of a swing tackle moving forward to provide depth at both positions. He's listed as the backup for both Fautanu and Dan Moore and Tomlin said that Jones is in the best position to fill that role moving forward "regardless of who starts and who doesn't."
