The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the last few years rebuilding their offensive line, and that’s starting to bear fruit. Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick, and Troy Fautanu all look like quality, long-term starters. However, Broderick Jones hasn’t panned out as well. That means offensive tackle could be a high priority for the Steelers in this year’s draft. Expert Daniel Jeremiah thinks Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano would be a home run pick for the Steelers in the first round, but it might cause them to shuffle some of their pieces up front.
“I think that would be a heck of a value pick,” Jeremiah said Monday on The Mina Kimes Show. And I did not think Fautanu would be there for the Steelers when they got him. I think he can kick over to left [tackle] now. He’s plenty athletic and rangy. Then, you would have two super athletic tackles if Fano’s at right and you have Fautanu.”
Fano spent all three of his collegiate seasons at Utah, starting 35 games and only allowing three sacks, including none last year. He’s one of the top tackles in this class, and it seems unlikely that he’ll fall to the Steelers’ pick at 21. However, as Jeremiah mentions, not many people expected Fautanu to fall to Pittsburgh in 2024.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be wise to completely rule Fano out as the Steelers’ first-round pick. However, he was mostly a right tackle in college, posting 24 starts there compared to only 11 at left tackle.
That might worry some Steelers fans who are still scarred from how the team flipped Jones around when he was drafted. He had mostly played left tackle in college, but the Steelers had Dan Moore Jr. in that spot, so they started Jones off on the right side.
He wasn’t totally comfortable there, though. Then, the Steelers spent their first-round pick in the following year’s draft on Fautanu, who also spent most of his time on the left side. That left Jones’ role even more undefined, and that showed with a rough 2024 season.
However, the Steelers finally stopped shuffling him around last year, moving Jones back to his more natural position at left tackle. That didn’t quite fix all of his problems, with his 2025 season being mostly a mixed bag. Then, he suffered a neck injury in Week 12 that ended his season. While it sounds like he’s recovering well, his future in Pittsburgh is still unclear.
Meanwhile, Fautanu has settled in nicely at right tackle. If the Steelers draft Fano, they’ll either have to repeat what they did with Jones and play him on the side where he looks less comfortable, or they’ll have to move Fautanu to the left side and hope he handles the transition better than Jones did.
There’s risk associated with that, but it could be worth the reward. Fautanu isn’t Jones. Jeremiah is correct that his athleticism makes it easier to project a smooth move to left tackle. Fautanu moved around a lot in college, including playing guard. It’s nothing he’s not used to, and he’s familiar with playing on the left side. Pairing Fano and Fautanu together could solidify Pittsburgh’s offensive line for years to come.
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