Saunders: Making Sense of Steelers Offensive Tackle Situation
With Troy Fautanu back, what are the Pittsburgh Steelers doing with Dan Moore Jr. and Broderick Jones at offensive tackle?
PITTSBURGH — Rookie Troy Fautanu is expected to start at right tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, Steelers Now reported on Thursday.
As to what happens at left tackle, Dan Moore Jr. wasn’t tipping the team’s intentions, saying, “I think that’s a question for Coach Tomlin.”
Tomlin wasn’t telling, either.
“Troy is more available,” he said. “Obviously, his availability is not in question, and so I’ve been more thoughtful about how to distribute reps, and at the end of this thing, we’ll determine who plays and how often.”
But the fact that only Moore was working at left tackle, while Fautanu and Broderick Jones worked at right tackle during the individual portions of practice on Friday kind of gives up the game.
It’s pretty clear that Fautanu is going to play right tackle, Moore is going to play left tackle, and Jones is headed to the bench. Not only that, he’s not even spending all of his time at left tackle while he’s there.
Let’s make some sense of all of this.
TROY FAUTANU IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD
Fautanu came in as a promised NFL-ready prospect, and boy has he delivered on that. The 23-year-old, who is actually older than Jones, played in 40 games and made 28 starts with Washington over five collegiate seasons. For comparison, Jones started 19 games over three seasons at Georgia.
“Troy’s been ready since he walked in the door,” Moore said on Friday. “He’s so intuitive. He’s smart. He gets it. He wants to work. He wants to be out there. I don’t think the moment will be too big for him. Like anything, we’ll just have to calm his nerves and just keep collected and keep him neutral. …
“We were really impressed with Troy. His development from OTAs to camp, it’s just miraculous. Each day, he just continues to get better. In the little bit of time he played in the preseason, he played really well. I think he impressed the coaches and the offensive linemen, honestly. We have all kinds of respect for him.”
Fautanu will make his debut on Sunday, and if he keeps playing like he’s been playing, it will probably take an injury to get him back out of the lineup.
RELATED: Steelers OT Troy Fautanu Stuck Waiting for Chance after Ill-Timed Injury
DAN MOORE IS NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK
It’s interesting to me that a fanbase that has a near-universal dislike for the stats that Pro Football Focus has to offer, mostly for them (incorrectly) preferring Myles Garrett to T.J. Watt, takes them at face value when it comes to Dan Moore.
With turnover on the offensive line in both Cincinnati and Baltimore, Moore has probably faced Garrett more than any other player over the last three years. It’s no wonder that PFF doesn’t like him.
Moore was fairly good against Atlanta in Week 1. Over the course of his four-year career, he’s been fine. Not good. Not someone you’re necessarily excited about being in the lineup. Definitely someone the team would like to replace long term.
But in terms of which player gives the team the best chance to win this game this week, it’s nearly impossible to make another argument. Fautanu hasn’t played any left tackle with the Steelers yet.
Jones has played both, but he’s clearly not 100%, dealing with a right elbow injury, and possibly another one, in addition to wearing a gigantic brace that he said has limited his movements.
He also was not very good in pass coverage as a rookie in 2023 and has always been viewed as a bit of a project in that area, with far too many quick losses. Whether it was simply old bad habits, his injury, or a combination of the two, he was dreadful in pass protection in the preseason. Taking a player struggling that badly and moving him to the quarterback’s blind side is probably not a good idea.
THIS DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE GIVING UP ON JONES
Jones was always a raw prospect when the Steelers traded up to get him in the first round in 2023. He is an elite athlete for the position, and has awesome length and strength. If you molded an NFL offensive tackle out of clay, he’d look like Broderick Jones.
But Jones’ technique is not as well developed, mostly just from a lack of experience. He was on a deep line at Georgia, making two starts before his junior season. He came out after just 15 more.
He was not particularly good in pass protection last season. If he took a step forward in that area, it has been masked by his arm issues.
Tomlin shook off concerns about which side Jones has been playing, saying it doesn’t really matter.
“Broderick has been working on the left and right side since spring,” he said.
That’s true, even if the majority of those reps have come at right tackle. The Steelers have said repeatedly as an organization that they see Jones as the left tackle of the future, most recently, from assistant general manager Andy Weidl.
“At some point, Broderick will be the left tackle, but it’s good to have depth,” Weidl said during the preseason. “I mean, it’s good to have both those guys and Dan Moore.”
So if Jones is the left tackle of the future, why is he working at right tackle right now? Well, for this week, he’s the backup, and with Fautanu making his first career start, and not too far removed from a knee injury, it’s a lot more likely he’ll play there this week than left tackle.
In the medium term, putting a player with a bad right arm at left tackle is pretty undesirable, too. That’d be moving it to the inside, where losses happen faster and are more impactful, and moving it to the quarterback’s blind side.
Jones is still a big part of the team’s future. Moore will almost certainly not be retained after his contract ends at the end of this season. Jones and Fautanu are the team’s starting tackles of the future. Where they will play still remains to be seen. Jones is taller, with longer arms. He is the more prototypically built left tackle. If he can improve his pass protection, that’s the best result for the team long-term.
Fautanu has also said that despite all those starts at left tackle at Washington, he’s more comfortable at right tackle, a combination of him having played with a left-handed quarterback in college and being right handed. So it seems like everyone would be happiest if that can work out.
Let Jones get healthy, get that elbow brace off, and give him a real chance to win the starting job at left tackle, and he’ll probably give Moore a run for his money, if not by the end of the season, in time for next year. If that doesn’t work out, Fautanu on the left and Jones on the right remains an attractive Plan B. Either way, the future of the Steelers tackle position remains bright, and the present isn’t too shabby, either.
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