The Pittsburgh Steelers are in their second of seven weeks of break before returning for the dog days of training camp.
After the Steelers broke from organized team activities (OTAs), offensive line coach Pat Meyer spoke about the progression of first-round rookie tackle Troy Fautanu.
“The first couple days, his timing was off because the speed of the game is different — now we don’t have any pads on yet, so nothing’s going to be determined until we get into camp — but his timing’s much better in terms of his get-off and run game and his sets and throwing his hands and being aggressive with his hands and whatnot,” Meyer told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “He’s improved tremendously from rookie minicamp to now.”
Fautanu’s collegiate experience at Washington includes all of two snaps at right tackle (and 100 snaps at left guard), but that’s where he expects to compete when the team starts camp on July 25.
Historically, barring injury to a veteran, Mike Tomlin has delayed starting top rookies until their second season. Going forward, things could be different in Pittsburgh, but camp will offer a clearer picture of their plans.
In a perfect world, Fautanu would show enough chops for Tomlin to feel confident about starting him on the right side out of the gate, Dan Moore Jr. would be relegated to backup, and second-year tackle Broderick Jones would return to his natural spot on the left side.
That’s what Steelers fans want to see.
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