Troy Fautanu
First-round pick, No. 20 overall
Offensive tackle, Washington
6-foot-4, 317 pounds
Stats: Washington last season ranked 13th in the country in scoring offense and total offense and No. 2 nationally in passing yards per game.
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Tidbits: Was the left tackle for all 15 games for a Huskies team that advanced to the College Football Playoff national championship game. … First-team all-Pac 12 and third-team All America offensive tackle in 2023; second-team all-conference in 2022, when he started all 13 games (12 at left tackle and one at left guard). … Also made a start at guard (in addition to two at left tackle) as a redshirt sophomore in 2022. … Finished among the top 10 among offensive linemen at the NFL Combine in the following events: 40-yard dash (5.01 seconds), 10-yard split (1.71 seconds), vertical leap (32.5 inches) and broad jump (9 feet, 5 inches). … Was the No. 1-rated recruit out of Nevada (per 247 Sports) in the 2019 class. … Second consecutive year the Steelers selected an offensive tackle in the first round (last season, it was Georgia’s Broderick Jones at No. 14 overall) after they had not taken one previously since 1996. … Is the first University of Washington player the Steelers have drafted since outside linebacker Travis Feeney in the sixth round in 2016. The only other Washington player drafted by the Steelers in the first round was tight end Mark Bruener in 1995. Bruener works in the Steelers scouting department. … Finalist for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year award. … Fautanu said he grew up a Steelers fan, and posts from when he was in high school on his X account (formerly Twitter), back up that claim.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.