Steelers' TJ Watt Is Implementing An Interesting Strategy With Troy Fautanu During Training Camp

The Pittsburgh Steelers have retooled the roster a good bit throughout the 2025 season. This has given some members of the fan base some reasons for optimism, which hasn't been the case in Pittsburgh over recent years. It will be interesting to see how all of the new pieces are able to blend together, and there will certainly be an adjustment period at the start of the 2025 regular season. One key piece of the roster is going to be the offensive line, and how well that group performs is going to determine a lot for the rest of the offense, which has been an issue recently.

The offensive line is important to every team, but it is especially important in Pittsburgh. Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith wants to be able to run the football, and the offensive line is instrumental in that. Another reason the line needs to take a major step forward is the age and lack of mobility in quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

He is going to need to be able to trust his protection in order to be successful. A big piece of that is second-year right tackle Troy Fautanu, who missed all but one game of his rookie year. SteelerNation's Jake Boico was in Latrobe on Tuesday, where TJ Watt spoke about the young right tackle.

"He's a very quick tackle." Watt said. "Very athletic. He can recover really well. I think he's just getting his confidence under him. I'm trying to give him a myriad of things, where I can bull rush him to get his confidence in that knee."

Fautanu suffered a knee injury during training camp ahead of the 2024 season, and he then suffered a season-ending knee injury ahead of Pittsburgh's Week 3 matchup. He only started one game, the Week 2 win over the Denver Broncos, and he performed pretty well. Watt emphasized that Fautanu is trying to get back to feeling confident in comfortable in that knee.

Fautanu is expected to play well in 2025, and there are a few reasons for that. One being that he has to face the best pass-rusher in the NFL on nearly every snap in practice. Watt lines up over right tackles more often than any other offensive position, which should set Fautanu up to go against anyone else in the NFL. The defender mentioned that he is making sure he is throwing everything at Fautanu, while also bull-rushing the young tackle so he can regain some confidence in his knee.

If Fautanu can remain healthy, there is no reason to think he couldn't be one of the team's best offensive lineman. The coaching staff has a ton of confidence in him, hence why he was the organization's first-round pick in 2024.

Steelers' Watt Has Been Held In Check By Fautanu

Fautanu has been playing well against Watt throughout training camp. This is a good sign for fans, especially since Watt came out and said that he was trying to get Fautanu feeling comfortable. Watt is so good that he doesn't necessarily need to practice his technique during training camp, so he is using this time to get Fautanu sharp. The second-year tackle has been impressive, which is inspiring for the offense heading into 2025.

Broderick Jones at left tackle is the spot that fans need to be worried about. Reports out of Latrobe have not been good for the third-year player, but there is still hope he can turn things around. He is still considered raw, and he just got moved back to his natural position on the left side of the offensive line. It will take some time for him to get used to everything, but he is going to be a key part of whether or not the offense can be successful in 2025.