Troy Fautanu taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft
Chris Fetters
The run of Washington Huskies in the 2024 NFL Draft continued Thursday as Troy Fautanu was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 20th overall pick in the first round. Fautanu is the third Husky picked in the first round, following Michael Penix, Jr. and Rome Odunze.
The run of Washington Huskies in the 2024 NFL Draft continued Thursday as Troy Fautanu was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 2oth overall pick in the first round. Fautanu is the third Husky picked, following Michael Penix Jr who was taken at 8 by the Atlanta Falcons. Rome Odunze was taken with the ninth pick by Chicago. He was also the sixth offensive lineman taken in the draft.
With Penix, Odunze, and Fautanu gone, that ties a record for number of UW first round draft picks in a class. In 2015, Danny Shelton, Marcus Peters, and Shaq Thompson all went inside the top-25 picks.
Fautanu, a 6-foot-4, 317-pound offensive lineman – the second Husky OL ever taken in the first round (Kaleb McGary) since the draft went to seven rounds in 1994 – is considered one of the most versatile offensive linemen in the draft.
“Ready-made brawler without an ounce of finesse in his game,” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein said when breaking down Fautanu’s game. “Fautanu has starting experience at tackle and guard and is well-coached, but he will default to unruly hand-fighting when his technique gets away from him. He plays with average hand placement and can be beaten by length, but his tenacity and footwork keep him connected to base blocks. He’s capable of getting to reach blocks in zone and chaperoning running backs wide as a pulling guard on the next level. He’s a pop-and-reset pass puncher who uses active hands and feet to help with extended mirroring he’s forced into. Fautanu needs to prove he has the leverage and hand quickness to play inside, but all signs point toward him becoming a good future starter.”
Regardless of whether or not Fautanu, who won the 2023 Morris Trophy and was an AP Third Team All-American, plays at tackle or guard, you cannot replace his experience. He played in 41 games overall at Washington, starting his final 28 games the past two seasons – 27 of those starts at left tackle.
“…To me I’d get to (Amarius) Mims, so that’s (Joe) Alt, (Taliese) Fuaga, (Olu) Fashanu, (JC) Latham, (Troy) Fautanu from Washington, (Tyler) Guyton, Mims,” NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah said ahead of the draft when asked about the top tackle prospects. “That’s the collection from me. I have all those guys in my top-20 players.”
While at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Fautanu ran a 5.01 40-yard dash, 1.71 10-yard split, jumped 32.5 inches in the vertical jump, and 9’5″ in the standing broad jump.