Steelers first-round pick Troy Fautanu lands in Pittsburgh ahead of introductory presser

Look who is here, Steelers fans. Troy Fautanu, the newest Pittsburgh offensive tackle, touched down Friday in his new home.

And the Steelers sent a group to meet him at the airport. The social media team captured the moment on video, captioning it “Touched dahn in the Burgh.”

Touched dahn in the Burgh 📍 pic.twitter.com/rKSMzFEzTl

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) April 26, 2024

NFL.com reported Fautanu slipped because of knee issues

Fautanu was a surprise pick for Pittsburgh at No. 20. It wasn’t because the Steelers weren’t looking for an offensive tackle. Rather, Fautanu wasn’t expected to be available at that point in the first round. Pittsburgh also was looking for a center, possibly Duke’s Graham Barton. But they abandoned those plans as Fautanu slipped to 20.

NFL.com reported that the former Washington star could’ve dropped some because of a knee issue. Yet everyone seemed to applaud the pick.

The NFL.com report said “the Steelers smartly found value in the stud lineman, who joins last year’s first-rounder, Broderick Jones, up front to protect new quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.  

Steelers GM Omar Khan said Fautanu was one of their big targets amongst a first round stocked with offensive linemen.

“Excited to have him as a member of this organization,” Khan told reporters. “We spent a great deal of time with him. We met with Troy at the Combine, we had him in here as a 30 visit. (And) we are excited to have him here.

“I would say that he was a player that we had rated really high up on the board. He was one of the guys that we were hoping would be there and that we were targeting. When he was, we were on the clock — when they, when we were at 19 and waiting to see what the Rams picked, and it was just — we just felt really good about it. He’s the player we wanted.”

Steelers coaches asked Bama staff about newest tackle

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that as part of their scouting process of Fautanu, he and other coaches talked to the Alabama staff. The Crimson Tide lost in overtime to Washington in the CFP semifinals. But, before he left for Alabama, coach Kalen DeBoer headed up the Washington program.

“Really excited about Troy,” said Coach Mike Tomlin. “The tape was just really, really impressive, not only in terms of his talents, but really I think his talents were really highlighted by the way that Washington utilized his talents schematically. You saw everything that you wanted to see. You saw him out in space in the perimeter game, be it crack toss or wide receiver screens. He was great in the run game. He was great as a drop-back pass protector.

“We had great visits through the process. Went to Tuscaloosa, obviously to handle some Alabama business, but we had an opportunity to really talk to some people in Tuscaloosa that had some firsthand knowledge of his capabilities, the coaching staff, and he just checked every box. We’re really excited to have him.”

The second and third rounds are tonight when the NFL Draft commences again in Detroit. The Steelers own three picks in the two rounds. They’ll likely be looking for a center, receiver and cornerback. That’s not necessarily the order they prefer.