After it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers would start 2024 first-round pick and offensive tackle Troy Fautanu to begin the season, now it looks like that may not happen after all.
Just a few weeks ago, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the plan was to start Fautanu in Week 1, even after he was set to miss the rest of the preseason with an knee injury he suffered. Dulac also noted that fellow tackles Broderick Jones and Dan Moore would battle it out for the starting left tackle job.
But during an appearance on 102.5 DVE (H/T Steelers Depot), Dulac backtracked on that, saying the injury to Fautanu may have changed things for the Steelers' plan.
"I think the injury might have slowed that decision a little bit, to Bob's (Labriola) point, because he's not going to get any additional practice time," Dulac said. But we will find out what happens after Labor Day when they start preparing for the Atlanta Falcons. I think maybe the injury has slowed the process. I'm not going to sit here and say he is or isn't going to be the starting tackle in Atlanta."
"It won't be a very long time after that that he will be that guy," Dulac added about Fautanu eventually taking the starting job if doesn't right away.
For reference, here's what Dulac said in the wake of Fautanu's injury.
"The Steelers don’t want to wait any longer with rookie Troy Fautanu, even though they have no other choice right now," he wrote.
"After three weeks of training camp and just one preseason game, they are ready to hand the starting right tackle job over to their No. 1 draft choice. They planned to start him in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and leave him there for the start of the regular season until he injured his knee Friday night against the Houston Texans.
"That will leave Broderick Jones, last year’s No. 1 pick, to battle incumbent Dan Moore Jr. for the starting left tackle position."
Not starting Fautanu right away always made the most sense considering the circumstances.
Of course, ideally the Steelers would have Fautanu at right tackle and Jones at left tackle to begin the season, but the chances of that happening figured to take a big hit once it was clear Fautanu would miss time — and that was especially true following Fautanu's struggles in preseason Week 1.
While it's clear we can't completely rule out the rookie getting the starting nod to begin the season, things are far less certain than they appeared to be just a few weeks back.
