A Quick Look at Steelers’ 2024 First Round Pick Troy Fautanu
With the 20th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Troy Fautanu, offensive tackle from the University of Washington.
The last time the Steelers selected a man named Troy in the first round of the draft, he went on to be a two-time Super Bowl Champion, a Hall of Famer, and arguably my favorite Steeler of all time.
I’ll be the first to admit it: I didn’t think we were getting this guy. Not because he’s not good; he’s damn good. I didn’t think we’d get him, because he was being mocked in the 10-15th pick range, and I didn’t think he’d be there. But, the board fell as it did, and I think most of Steelers Nation is extremely happy about it.
Troy Fautanu was born just outside of San Francisco, CA. He went to Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas. As soon as he was taken with the Steelers’ pick, old tweets quickly resurfaced that served as proof that he grew up a big time Steelers fan, referring to Big Ben as the GOAT and openly rooting for them on multiple occasions. It was eventually reported by Tom Pelissero that Fautanu grew up a Steelers fan, and his favorite player was Troy Polamalu. Full circle.
After his National Championship run that ended in a loss to Michigan, he sat down with Connor Rogers from NBC Sports ahead of the NFL Combine. During that interview, he threw out a line that really stood out to me: “I just feel like you have to play o-line violently…”
A quick look at the film shows him doing just that. There’s no lollygagging with this guy. If his assignment is dropping back into coverage, he makes sure that somebody on the opposing team takes a hit from him. There are no plays off with this guy. Additionally, his use of the snatch and trap technique is so clean and effective. The snatch and trap technique is used when a pass rusher is extending their arms and using them as leverage when too much of their weight is in front of their body. This often happens with bull rushers, where their weight distribution becomes too reliant on their arms rather than their base (feet). The snatch and trap, then, involves chopping down at the pass rushers’ wrists or elbows, often causing them to lose their balance and/or reset their hands and feet, giving the offense time for the play to develop. More often than not, this results in the defender getting pancaked. Fautanu’s use of this technique is highlighted beautifully in the first few reps in this video.
I think my favorite thing about him, having watched some of his film, is his ability to keep his head up while he’s engaging defenders. In doing so, it gives him the ability to disengage guys and get up to the second and third level of defenders as plays come to life; particularly on run plays. That ‘heads-up’ approach is also evident on plays where he’s pulling, and screen plays, as he’s able to move fluidly and quickly identify his assignment(s). There’s an extremely solid example of him doing this at about the 1:30 mark of this video.
All in all, the Steelers got themselves a hell of a football player. Mike Tomlin said two things in the post-pick press conference that really needed to be said: (1) “He’s a black and gold type of a guy.” and (2) “Just turn on the tape.”
It’s true. Turn on any Washington Huskies game from the last two years, and just look for #55. I promise you’re gonna feel damn good about what you see.
I’m feeling sensational heading into round 2.
Here. We. Go.
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