Troy Fautanu unfazed by switch to right tackle on 1st day of Steelers rookie minicamp
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Troy Fautanu wasn’t sure if he was breaking protocol by revealing the gaffe he made Friday on the first snap of rookie minicamp.
Lined up at right tackle, a noteworthy achievement in itself, Fautanu marked his indoctrination to an NFL workout by committing a false start.
Nerves admittedly got the best of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round draft pick.
“I’m very antsy. … I was so ready to go,” Fautanu said after the 75-minute session at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
The 6-foot-4, 317-pound tackle could allow himself to laugh about his transgression. And given that his previous taste of a team football workout was in January, he could be excused for the bundle of emotions he experienced.
“It’s good to finally play football again,” Fautanu said. “After going through the four months of the pre-draft process and all the theatrics of that — showing up and looking pretty for the cameras (after the draft), that’s not me.
“I’m ready to play ball.”
Judging from first impressions, Fautanu will get his share of work at right tackle after making 29 consecutive starts for Washington on the left side. Fautanu lined up there on the first day of the three-day minicamp with fourth-round pick Mason McCormick at right guard and second-rounder Zach Frazier manning center.
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With the left-handed Michael Penix Jr. playing quarterback the past two seasons for the Huskies, Fautanu wasn’t used for blind-side protection. With the Steelers, who have Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as the main two quarterbacks, a switch to the right side wasn’t unexpected for Fautanu.
Fautanu credited his offensive line coach at Washington, Scott Huff, now a member of the Seattle Seahawks, for having his tackles learn the nuances of the left and right sides.
“For me, regardless if the quarterback can see my rusher or not, I’ve got to block my guy,” Fautanu said. “That’s my mindset whether I’m on the backside or frontside.”
Fautanu’s position as a rookie depends on what the Steelers want to do with 2023 first-round tackle Broderick Jones. Drafted to play the left side, Jones started the final 10 games of the season at right tackle.
Dan Moore Jr., who has started the past three seasons at left tackle, also figures into the equation.
Fautanu wasn’t the only draft pick asked to change sides on the offensive line. McCormick, primarily a starter at left guard during his stay at South Dakota State, also moved to the right side.
“He was awesome,” McCormick said of Fautanu. “He has really dived into the playbook and what we need to do. He takes a ton of pride in what he does.”
Rookie minicamp provides the chance for each of the team’s draft picks, plus a handful of undrafted free agents, to settle into their new environment. Fautanu arrived on the South Side a day earlier and learned his locker would be stationed next to veteran guard Isaac Seumalo.
The pairing probably wasn’t a coincidence. Like Fautanu, Seumalo is of Polynesian descent.
“I apologized to him because I’m going to be bothering him a whole bunch,” Fautanu said. “When you have a guy like that, a nine-year vet, you want to pick his brain.”
Fautanu, though, made sure not to be too bothersome to Seumalo, one of the more reserved players in the Steelers locker room.
“He is a man of few words,” Fautanu said, smiling. “I learned that very quickly, and I didn’t want to bother him too much on the first day. I didn’t want to have a bad first impression.”
Instead, Fautanu saved it for his first snap while wearing a No. 76 Steelers jersey. The rest of the day, however, went much more smoothly for the first-rounder.
Not that McCormick was surprised.
“Troy is somebody you want to be around,” he said. “He works hard on a daily basis. He’s done a really good job.”