Second-year men Troy Fautanu and Roman Wilson will be important to the Steelers’ 2025 campaign, so how are they faring? So far, so good in the view of HC Mike Tomlin, who addressed their development yesterday. Both players missed nearly all of their rookie season due to injury, so their injection into the offense is significant.
“I think they’re both having really good camps. We need them to”, Tomlin said of Fautanu and Wilson, via the Steelers’ website. “They don’t need to behave like rookies, although they didn’t have a lot of exposure in terms of playing time a year ago. They have been a part of the program, and I think that that should show itself. And so far it has. They’re both making plays and doing a nice job of it”.
The Steelers selected Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Roman Wilson in the third. Each of them played in only one game last year, the former starting, the latter trickling in. Both suffered or aggravated injuries in the following week of practices, effectively ending their seasons.
Roman Wilson injured his ankle on the first day of padded practices, which lingered into the regular season. He finally dressed for one game, playing five snaps, then injured his hamstring. The lost time proved significant enough for the Steelers to decide to shelve him for the year.
Troy Fautanu injured his knee in the Steelers’ first preseason game but started in Week 2. He played the majority of the snaps but dislocated his kneecap later that week. Despite some early optimism that he might be able to return, that never proved realistic.
Both Fautanu and Wilson have drawn praise throughout the offseason, though not in equal measure. Wilson had a slow start to training camp but has been coming on in recent days. Given that, as a wide receiver, he had to adjust to playing with a new quarterback, that’s not too surprising. Fautanu is just resuming what he’s been doing, though with a different right guard.
With the Steelers having traded George Pickens, Roman Wilson is in line for a key role on offense. Calvin Austin III may have a bigger role, but Wilson will be out there as well. It could be a weekly “two dogs, one bone” situation, with the hot hand earning more opportunities.
As for Troy Fautanu, the goal for him is to play every single snap, as it is with any starting offensive lineman. The Steelers have been very high on him since he first stepped onto the field. Since returning from injury, he hasn’t done anything to diminish their enthusiasm.
But they both need to pass the crucial in-game test. Both Fautanu and Wilson should play a lot in the Steelers’ preseason opener Saturday night in Jacksonville. That will have nothing to do with how much they play in the regular season, of course. But it will give us, and the coaches, a taste of what they look like in a real game situation.
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