Tag: troy fautanu

Former Steelers 1st-round pick benched versus Broncos

Rookie Troy Fautanu has replaced Broderick Jones in the starting lineup.

We never thought when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected offensive tackle Troy Fauntau in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, he would replace Broderick Jones in the starting lineup. But against the Denver Broncos this is exactly what has happened.

Jones was benched after three penalties on the same drive including a lazy holding call that negated a huge gain by wide receiver George Pickens. Veteran Dan Moore Jr. remains the starting left tackle and has played a stong game so far.

Last season, Jones replaced Chuks Okorafor in the starting lineup mid-season and played well but he’s clearly taken a step back this year.

https://twitter.com/RichieWalsh/status/1835426446094827977

The Steelers lead the Broncos 7-0 with just over seven minutes left to play in the first half.

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Steelers rookie getting 1st-team reps at Wednesday practice

The Steelers had rookie Troy Fautanu getting first-team reps in place of Dan Moore Jr. on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, we saw the return of rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu. With starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. dealing with an ankle injury, Fautanu took first-team reps at right tackle and Broderick Jones moved over the left tackle in Moore’s spot.

The Steelers selected Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft with the intention of him battling for the starting right tackle spot. This would allow Jones, the team’s first-round pick in 2023 to move to his natural position of left tackle.

However, a knee injury sidelined Fautanu and delayed the process. Now with Fautanu healthy, we could see him in the starting lineup this week against the Denver Broncos.

https://twitter.com/bepryor/status/1833951561711587694

If Fautanu starts on Sunday, he will be the second rookie offensive lineman for the Steelers. Pittsburgh plugged rookie center Zach Frazier into the starting lineup after Nate Herbig’s injury sent him to IR during the preseason.

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Mike Tomlin shares injury outlook on Steelers rookies, veterans ahead of 2024 season opener

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin provided an injury update heading into the Week 1 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.

Some injured Pittsburgh Steelers players are getting healthier as preparation continues for their Week 1 matchup versus the Atlanta Falcons.

Though minor, injuries hit the Steelers extensively during the offseason and preseason.

In his Falcons preview press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin shared an update on rookies Roman Wilson (ankle) and Troy Fautanu (knee), as well as veterans Jaylen Warren (hamstring), Cory Trice (groin) and Isaac Seumalo (pectoral).

Aside from Seumalo, who Tomlin ruled out for Week 1, the Steelers above worked in a limited fashion on Monday. The team returns to practice on Wednesday, when they’re expected to increase reps.

Tomlin had this to say regarding player availability:

We had some guys dealing with some short-term misery regarding injury, but those guys that I mentioned appear to be turning the corner and moving toward availability. We’ll watch as we go through the week and make sure we don’t get any negative trends, not only from a health standpoint. Some of these guys don’t have extended resumes and so we’ll be watching the quality of their play as well as we reengage them in this ready and process.

While Trice is in his second year as a pro, 2024 will be his first on the field after being sidelined with a torn ACL early in training camp last summer. Wilson has zero NFL experience and Fautanu injured his knee 25 snaps into his rookie debut.

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Mike Tomlin still pondering Steelers OT spots vs Falcons

Mike Tomlin won’t commit to which offensive tackle will play on which side this weekend.

There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute. As of Tuesday, when Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media, he isn’t sure which of his two starting offensive tackles will start on which side when they take on the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday.

For most of the preseason, Broderick Jones has lined up on the right side while Dan Moore Jr. has started on the left. The Steelers original plan at offensive tackle included rookie Troy Fautanu but a knee injury took him out of the fold long enough to complicate things.

The Steelers offensive line is already down starting right guard Isaac Seumalo and will be starting rookie center Zach Frazier. Not knowing where the offensive tackles will be lining up doesn’t inspire confidence this week when this offensive is predicated on being able to run the football.

We expect Jones to stay on the right until Fautanu returns but we aren’t convinced Moore is going to just give up his starting spot.

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Steelers OT says for now he’s staying on the right

The Steelers are still trying to sort out the offensive tackle situation ahead of Week One.

The offensive tackle position battle for the Pittsburgh Steelers was supposed to be different than this. After drafting Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, it was supposed to be him competing with Dan Moore Jr. with Broderick Jones moving to left tackle and the winner of Moore vs Fautanu being the right tackle.

Instead, Fautanu is hurt and the Steelers don’t know which side of the line Moore and Jones will be playing in Week One against the Atlanta Falcons.

Jones was asked where he thought he’d be playing versus Atlanta and he led off with a coy, “Gotta wait and see” but then followed it up that he has been working on the right and is preparing to be there in the first regular-season game.

Jones has had a rough go of it in the preseason. After a strong finish to his rookie campaign, Jones seems to have taken a step back, perhaps due to an elbow injury.

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Steelers offensive line depth takes a big hit

The Steelers could be minus OT Dylan Cook for several weeks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were already thin at offensive tackle and now, according to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler, things have gotten even worse. Fowler reported that reserve offensive tackle Dylan Cook could miss several weeks with a foot injury.

Many fans didn’t give Cook much thought before this but with rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu on the mend from a knee sprain, Cook was the team’s top reserve offensive on the depth chart for both sides.

Cook could be headed to short-term IR to start the season. Each team is designated two players who can be placed on short-term IR and not have them count toward the team’s 53-man roster to start the season.

If Cook goes on IR, the next man up would be Devery Hamilton. If not for the injury, Hamilton would be a prime candidate to stash away on the practice squad. Now the team might need to seek out a veteran another team released to help solidify the depth chart.

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Steelers OT Troy Fautanu making ‘slow progression’ with knee injury

Troy Fautanu was supposed to be the team’s starting right tackle this season but has remained sidelined with a knee injury.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a plan. Draft offensive tackle Troy Fautanu out of Washington, let him work his way into the starting lineup and then prosper. Those plans were derailed almost immediately when Fautanu suffered a knee injury in the team’s first preseason game against the Houston Texans.

Now the Steelers are headed into their third and final preseason game and Fautanu is still on the mend. There’s been no timetable set by head coach Mike Tomlin for Fautaunu’s return and according to the talented rookie, it is a slow progression.

Fautaunu spoke to the media and while he remained optimistic there was clearly frustration that he is not able to contribute.

Fautanu’s absence means the Steelers’ starting offensive tackles remain Dan Moore Jr. on the left and Broderick Jones on the right. It isn’t clear how the Steelers will handle Fautanu’s injury at the start of the season but he could find himself on IR to start the year.

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Steelers could start 2024 season with two rookies along offensive line

The Steelers could be starting two rookies (Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier) along the offensive line for the first time since 2021.

A big focus for the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason was the continued process of revamping their offensive line, a unit that’s been falling apart for years.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will the Steelers’ offensive line. Following the failed Kendrick Green experiment of 2021, Pittsburgh took a more serious approach to fortifying the trenches with Broderick Jones in 2022 and this year with Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier.

Green was part of the last time the Steelers were forced to start a pair of rookies along the offensive line, with Dan Moore Jr. at tackle.

Moore will likely get the start at left tackle tonight, with Jones shifting back to the right in place of Fautanu, who injured his knee in the preseason opener. Once Fautanu is healthy, it’s expected that Moore will be relegated to reserves for the first time since joining the Steelers via the 2021 NFL draft.

Should Fautanu heal up by the season opener in Atlanta, it’ll be two rookies and one second-year lineman holding up the fort for quarterback Russell Wilson.

It appeared Frazier would be a backup to start the regular season, with veteran offensive lineman Nate Herbig getting first-team snaps throughout training camp. But Herbig suffered a shoulder injury in practice on Sunday and could be lost for the season.

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Andy Weidl building a powerful Steelers offensive line via the draft

Andy Weidl has been the Steelers most underrated hire of the past two seasons.

Perhaps the most underrated addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last two years has been that of assistant general manager Andy Weidl. Weidl came over from the Philadelphia Eagles and in just two drafts has added a level of physicality up front that this team hasn’t seen in years.

Weidl addressed the media on Thursday and he emphasized this point by using the term “football maturity” and noted that this group of rookies has it.

A lack of physicality has been an issue for the Steelers on both sides of the line of scrimmage for several years. But recent additions of Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier on offense is changing that.

Pittsburgh has gone all in this offseason to make a deep playoff run by completely overhauling the quarterback position. This puts a lot of pressure on these young players in the trenches to play beyond their years.

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Steelers have a position battle that no one expected

Who will start at left tackle for the Steelers this season?

We’ve talked at length about some of the most interesting position battles the Pittsburgh Steelers have going on during training camp and the preseason. We even talked about a potential position battle between offensive tackles Dan Moore Jr. and rookie Troy Fautanu for the starting right tackle spot.

But according to Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac, we’ve got it all wrong. The battle isn’t between Fautanu and Moore and all. It’s between Moore and Broderick Jones.

Huh?

Dulac wrote that the Steelers are prepared to hand the starting right tackle job to Fautanu now and let Moore and Jones duke it out to start on the left side.

After three weeks of training camp and just one preseason game, they are ready to hand the starting right tackle job over to their No. 1 draft choice. They planned to start him in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and leave him there for the start of the regular season until he injured his knee Friday night against the Houston Texans.

That will leave Broderick Jones, last year’s No. 1 pick, to battle incumbent Dan Moore Jr. for the starting left tackle position.

The Steelers have been trying to replace Moore in the lineup for two years and he just keeps battling to hold his spot. We assumed the starting tandem would be Jones on the left and Fautanu on the right no matter what this season but the idea that Jones is less assured of a starting spot than Fautanu is hard to wrap our heads around.

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