Troy Fautanu came into the season as one of the few steady assumptions on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line. That hasn’t held up the way the team expected.
The 2024 first-round pick had looked dependable after missing nearly all of his rookie year because of a knee injury, and the hope was that a move from right tackle to left tackle in 2026 would bring another step forward. Instead, the switch has come with bumps, and his latest outing may have been the roughest yet.
In the Steelers’ 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints at the Stade de France in Paris, Fautanu was tested heavily by Chase Young. That matchup was mostly a bad draw for any tackle, and Young made sure of it. Over 25 pass-blocking reps against Young, Fautanu allowed two sacks and four total pressures, according to SumerSports.
Young’s resume explains why that’s such a problem. The 2020 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year has settled in with the Saints and become one of the league’s better pass rushers. Fautanu did hold up cleanly against Anfernee Jennings, Cameron Jordan and Kaden Elliss across a combined nine reps, but that didn’t come close to offsetting the damage Young did.
The numbers through seven games paint an uneven picture. Per Pro Football Focus, Fautanu has allowed 20 pressures and four sacks this season. That’s a notable step back from the 2025 campaign, when PFF credited him with 31 pressures and three sacks over 17 games for Pittsburgh.
One detail stands out even more: Fautanu had never given up two sacks in a single game before Young did it against him.
Still, there’s context here. He’s learning a new position, doing it under a new coaching staff, and has shown at least some signs he can settle in. Between Weeks 3 and 5, he didn’t allow a sack at all, which keeps the door open for him to become a reliable left tackle if the consistency comes.
The bigger issue is that the rest of the line has started to look better, especially after Brock Hoffman and Max Iheanachor were added to the starting group in Week 3. Fautanu’s early flashes looked promising in that stretch, but the momentum hasn’t lasted.
For now, the Steelers have to live with some volatility on his side of the line. He’s still too talented to dismiss, and he has already shown he can play at a high level. But if the struggles keep piling up after this performance against the Saints, Pittsburgh may soon have a real decision to make about what comes next.
In Other News...
Steelers Receiver Trouble Is Putting Real Pressure On Omar Khan
The NFL trade deadline is creeping closer, and the Steelers are once again weighing whether they need outside help at wide receiver. For Omar Khan, it is a familiar kind of pressure point: Pittsburgh has already spent time trying to reinforce the room, and the search for steady production has only gotten more complicated as injuries have thinned the depth chart.
With the deadline approaching, the urgency has sharpened around a position group that has not given the Steelers the consistency they want. Khan has been aggressive enough to explore upgrades, but the window to land one is closing fast, and the next move could say a lot about how he plans to handle a roster hole that has become hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers QB Search Just Got More Complicated With Dante Moore
Dante Moore had started to look like one of the more intriguing quarterback names to follow for Pittsburghs long-range planning, especially after a clean opening stretch at Oregon. In four games, he threw nine touchdowns without an interception, giving the Steelers another prospect to track as they think ahead to the 2027 NFL Draft and continue sorting through the future of the position.
Now the evaluation gets trickier. Moore will miss the rest of Oregons season because of a concussion, and any absence at this stage complicates how teams view a young quarterback who had been building momentum early. For Pittsburgh, it adds another layer of uncertainty to a process that already hinges on projection, health and whether Moore ultimately decides to enter the draft at all. [Read more 🡒]
Deshaun Watson Just Made Steelers-Browns A Lot More Complicated
Deshaun Watsons early-season rebound has changed the tone around Cleveland in a hurry, and that matters plenty for the Steelers, who know how quickly the AFC North can shift when the Browns have stability at quarterback. Through seven games, Watson has helped push Cleveland to a 5-2 start while throwing for 1,482 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, a line that looks a lot different from the uncertainty that surrounded him entering the season.
Ian Rapoport recently suggested Watson has done enough to put himself in the mix to stay under center beyond 2026 if he stays healthy, which is a meaningful step for a Browns team still sorting out its future. Still, the discussion has not reached the point of locking him in as the long-term answer, and that gray area is where this gets interesting for Pittsburgh, because a division rival with a resurgent quarterback can complicate everything from the standings to the offseason conversation. [Read more 🡒]