Troy Fautanu
Troy Fautanu
Taking over for Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers first-year head coach Mike McCarthy wanted to put his stamp on the team, especially on the offensive side of the football.
He did that quickly in the offseason, making a major move in the trenches, shifting Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick from the right side of the offensive line to the left, giving the Steelers some stability after seeing Broderick Jones go down with a season-ending neck injury that ultimately required surgery, and losing Isaac Seumalo in free agency.
The move was a bit of a surprise, considering Fautanu and McCormick played more than 1,000 snaps on the side in 2025 and were pretty good there. But moving them back to their more natural positions where they played in college will hopefully give the Steelers a major lift in the trenches.
For Fautanu, who spoke to Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews following a recent training camp practice in Latrobe, that transition to the left side is going well.
“It’s been good. Obviously little hiccups here and there, but for the most part the transition’s been pretty seamless, especially when I have him [Mason McCormick] next to me being able to communicate as well as he does,” Fautanu told Matthews regarding the transition to left tackle. “I’ve worked really hard the six weeks we had off trying to get comfortable with it, but you don’t really know until you go out there and go against somebody.
“I get to go against the best guys in the world, so I’m excited to finally cut it loose and really test myself.”
The position isn’t new to Fautanu. He was a standout left tackle in college at Washington and only made the move to right tackle as a rookie with the Steelers with veteran Dan Moore entrenched on the blind side. After seeing Moore leave in free agency last offseason, the Steelers shifted Jones to left tackle, giving Fautanu the starting right tackle position.
He was solid there, allowing just 25 pressures and two sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, while pairing with McCormick to form a strong run blocking duo. Now, his shift to left tackle takes on greater importance as the blindside protector for 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers.
So far in training camp, Fautanu has been fine. Nothing special, but not a problem, either. He has had some issues with pre-snap penalties, though, which is slightly concerning. Hopefully that gets cleaned up quickly.
The third-year pro is getting the opportunity to test himself every day in Latrobe against high-end pass rushers like Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig coming off the right side of the Steelers’ defense, so that should help him in his transition entering the regular season.
Team captain Cameron Hayward likes what he’s seeing from Fautanu so far.
“I really like Troy Fautanu. That’s one of those guys we’re gonna talk about in the future,” Heyward said on the latest episode of his podcast. “I personally think he can play any position on the O-line and be an All-Pro at any one of them. I’m not just talking. I think he has the tools.”
The Steelers expect Fautanu to play at a Pro Bowl-level at left tackle. Heyward believes he can go even higher. Hopefully that ends up being the case and the young piece can become that foundational player for the Black and Gold.