Losing Troy Fautanu is a death blow to fragile Steelers offense

The Steelers were dealt a major blow a few days ago when it was announced that rookie right tackle Troy Fautanu was heading to injured reserve. While there has been no official word on his knee injury, speculation has seemed to range from him missing a good portion of the year to potentially even being out for the remainder of the season.

For a team as delicate as Pittsburgh is right now, this could be the beginning of the end for the team.

The hope was for the continued investment in the tackle position to finally pay dividends this year. For the longest time, this team had ignored both tackle spots to the detriment of the offensive line. The past two seasons saw the team invest their top picks in tackles. With Dan Moore hanging around and Dylan Cook looking promising as a reserve, the tackle room was poised to be one of the best positions on the team.

Now, the room looks to be in shambles. It started with a lot of questions about Broderick Jones. Despite an early commitment to playing Fautanu on the right side of the line, the Steelers continued to play Jones there as well while also mixing in some left tackle work. He has yet to be able to find his footing on either side.

To be clear, his play has been inexcusable. From being penalty-heavy to poor reps in pass protection, the Steelers haven’t seen the jump from Jones that you would expect in year two. It got so bad that Jones was benched for Fautanu last week, and it seemed like the best move right now to preserve Jones's chance of making it with the team. He could sit and regain his confidence and focus on taking left tackle reps, his presumed spot long-term.

Why the Steelers are scrambling post-Fautanu injury

Now, with Fautanu out for a significant amount of time, Jones will be thrust back into the right tackle spot just a week after his benching. There was a moment when it seemed like he could get into a consistent routine despite being on the bench, but that is no longer the case. He needs to sink or swim, and I’m not confident that he is in the right head space to succeed there.

Even if Jones turns things around, the Fautanu injury poses a lot of issues for the roster this year. For starters, a once-deep tackle room is now extremely shallow. While Cook, who is also on injured reserve, can resume practice with the team soon if he has healed up, the depth overall is still lacking now. It isn’t like there is a surplus of great tackles available either, given the premium on the position.

Beyond just depth, one has to be upset that now Jones is likely locked into the right tackle role for the remainder of this season. Moore has played extremely well so far this year, but if he had faltered it would have made sense to kick Jones to the left side to replace him. That can’t happen now through.

Even if Jones does rebound and Moore continues to play well/stays healthy, losing Fautanu just adds more questions for the team long-term. Jones will play out the year at right tackle, so where does he go from there? Moving him to the left side in his third year could continue to stunt his growth. Moving Fautanu to the left side is equally problematic.

And this all assumes that Jones elevates his game. He could just as well fall flat on his face, and a year of bad play and no direction afterward could effectively end his career. His benching looked like a blessing in disguise, but less than a week after that he is back starting.

In every way, the loss of Fautanu is a blow to the Steelers. The best-case scenario means that Jones further entrenches himself on the right side, adding issues to 2025 and beyond. For an offense focused on not making mistakes and running the ball, this lack of consistency in the tackle room, and the potential to implode because of Jones could destroy the Steelers season.