Steelers take offensive tackle for 2nd straight draft, selecting Washington's Troy Fautanu

After ignoring tackle in the first round of the NFL Draft for more than two decades, the Pittsburgh Steelers lately have made it a trendy position on their board.

For the second time in as many years, the Steelers selected a tackle with their top pick. Holding the No. 20 overall selection in a draft that was top-heavy with offensive players being selected, the Steelers took Washington tackle Troy Fautanu.

Fautanu played left tackle at Washington but did not protect the quarterback’s blind side because the Huskies had a left-handed passer in Michael Penix Jr. That could portend a move to right tackle with the Steelers.

He was the sixth tackle taken in the draft.

“He was a player we had rated really high on our board,” general manager Omar Khan said. “He was a guy we were hoping would be there and we were targeting.”

Fautanu measured 6-foot-4, 317 pounds at the NFL Combine. He started 28 games the past two seasons for the Huskies. Fautanu conducted an official top-30 visit with the Steelers on April 15.

The Steelers plan to keep Fautanu at tackle – no particular spot has been determined, coach Mike Tomlin said – and the organization has no plans to shift him to guard or center.

“Position aside, he was the highest rated guy on our board,” Tomlin said. “That speaks to our level of excitement about our ability to get him.”

The feeling was mutual.

Fautanu grew up a Steelers fan and idolized Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. Fautanu wore No. 43 in honor of Polamalu. He didn’t switch numbers until his sophomore year at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nev., when he moved from fullback to the offensive line and could not longer wear 43.

“I know a lot about the team and the history,” Fautanu said. “I’m super excited to get this over with, and it couldn’t be any better than it was with the team I grew up loving.”

Fautanu broke out in tears when he received the congratulatory phone call from Tomlin.

“I was a little crybaby, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It was very nerve-wracking up to that point. You never know where you can land, and I’m so happy things happened the way they did.”

Until last season, when they traded up to take Georgia’s Broderick Jones with the No. 14 overall pick, the Steelers hadn’t taken a tackle in the first round since selecting Jamain Stephens in 1996.

By taking Fautanu, the Steelers elected not to address center, a position of need following the release of two-year starter Mason Cole in February. Top center prospects Jackson Powers-Johnson and Graham Barton were still on the board. Barton eventually was selected by Tampa Bay at No. 26.

Khan said at one point the Steelers had the option to trade back in the first round. But when the Los Angeles Rams, picking at No. 19, took a defensive end, any thought of making a deal was erased.

Added Tomlin: “We weren’t moving off Troy.”

When it was the Steelers’ turn to make their pick, they had their choice among several positions. To that point, no cornerbacks had been drafted and just three wide receivers were picked – two of the deepest positions in this year’s class.

When six quarterbacks were taken in the top 12 picks, it pushed prospects the Steelers coveted into their range. Offensive players went with the first 14 selections.

Four tackles – Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, Alabama’s JC Latham, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga– went by the wayside in the first 14 picks. The fifth tackle was taken by division rival Cincinnati, which got Georgia’s Amarius Mims at No. 18.

Yet, Fautanu remained available.

“Every one of those 10 minutes was the longest 10 minutes of my life,” Khan said.

Tomlin cut him off.

“He’s not kidding, either,” he said, laughing. “He wore me out.”

The first defensive player went No. 15 to Indianapolis, which selected UCLA pass rusher Laiatu Latu. Seattle grabbed the top defensive tackle prospect, Texas’ Byron Murphy. Minnesota swung another trade and kept the run of defensive players going when they took edge rusher Dallas Turner at No. 17.

Any chance of the Steelers taking a Georgia tackle for the second year in a row evaporated when the Bengals drafted Mims.

The Rams, drafting immediately ahead of the Steelers, took Florida State defensive end Jared Verse.

That set the stage for the Steelers to beef up their offensive line for the second year in a row.

“For obvious reasons, offensive line and defensive line are big priorities,” Khan said. “That’s where it starts. We want to be a physical football team, and it starts up there.”