Washington’s Troy Fautanu leaves NFL teams wanting more after combine performance

Troy Fautanu was already considered a first round pick going into the combine and with his incredible performance on Sunday could vault into the top 15, even in a crowded offensive tackle class.

The NFL combine‘s final day put the offensive linemen on display, including former Washington Huskies stars Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten. Both were expected to put up monster numbers and neither disappointed, but Fautanu stole the show, posting an impressive display in measurements, testing, and on-field workouts.

Having a good day in one of those areas is considered a win for top prospects, but Fautanu was able to display that he is a complete player in front of the evaluators looking to select him in April.

The stance that Fautanu should kick inside to guard at the next level took a hit at the combine when he measured in with 34 1/2-inch arms. The arm-length threshold for NFL offensive tackles is hotly contested and with that measurement, Fautanu is far above any arbitrary arm-length numbers that would pigeonhole him into playing guard.

He also weighed in at 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds, which aren’t eye-popping, but are more than adequate for an NFL left tackle.

The on-field testing was where Fautanu separated himself, posting broad jump and vertical jump numbers well above the 90th percentile for his position. He followed that up with a 5.01 40-yard dash with an even more impressive 1.71 10-yard split, which shows his explosiveness out of his stance.

While these numbers don’t perfectly translate to on-field success, they will go a long way toward convincing a team to play him on the outside before asking him to switch positions. He posted a 9.45 relative athletic score (RAS) which places him among the elite athletes coming out of college at the offensive tackle position.

 


Fautanu made waves with his on-field workout in the drills portion of the day as he showcased his fluidity changing direction and smooth ability to work into open space; something that was very evident from his film this past season.

He can get out of his stance with ease and climb the pass-rush arc to mirror the speed of pass-rushers he will face at the next level. Fautanu has extremely high upside at whatever position he is asked to play at the next level and after Sunday’s performance in Indianapolis, NFL teams will likely be tripping over themselves to select him in the first round.