The Pittsburgh Steelers expect rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu to start at right tackle for the team’s Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos, team sources told Steelers Now.
Fautanu worked with the first team during practice on Thursday, he told Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider. He also worked there on Wednesday, but on the first day of practice this week, Dan Moore Jr. was absent while resting an ankle injury.
The rookie out of Washington continuing to work with the first team on Thursday indicates the team’s seriousness about getting him starting-level reps, as head coach Mike Tomlin laid out on Tuesday.
“We have a commitment to continuing it because we liked what we saw from him during team development,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “He’s deserving of that. His talents are deserving of that, and so, we’ll balance that the best we can.”
What will happen at the other tackle position remains up in the air, though it appears to be trending toward Moore starting and 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones heading to the bench. Moore played well in his first game, and assuming his minor ankle injury does not impact his availability for Friday’s practice, appears to be in line to start once again.
Jones, on the other hand, has struggled since suffering a right elbow injury early in training camp. He had an especially poor first two preseason games, though he played somewhat better against the Detroit Lions and in the opener in Atlanta.
Some time down could let Jones fully heal, and perhaps let him shed the bulky brace that he’s been wearing for the last five weeks. He could also start to work in earnest on the left side of the line, something that was expected to happen during training camp, but was shelved when Fautanu was injured.
The Steelers see Jones as their long-term answer at left tackle, and with Moore’s contract set to expire at the end of the 2024 season, this is almost assuredly his last run with the team. But the Steelers are in win-now mode, and won’t prioritize future development over giving themselves the best chance beat the Broncos this Sunday.
