Selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft, offensive tackle Troy Fautanu went later in the first round than most projected.
In an April 30 interview, Fautanu told Seattle’s Sports Radio 950 KJR he believes another team leaked information about a previous knee injury.
“I talked to my agent, and basically he was saying that a team later in the draft might have leaked it to try to get me to fall. We don’t know,” Fautanu said. “It’s part of the process. Maybe if that hadn’t come out, maybe I wouldn’t be ending up in Pittsburgh. I’m kind of happy everything did play out the way it was supposed to.”
Fautanu and Steelers Brush Aside Injury Concerns
A report of Fautanu’s previous injury emerged ahead of the draft.
In an April 22 report from Sports Illustrated, reporter Albert Breer said teams flagged Fautanu for concern over a knee injury.
“That one was described to me as the sort of issue that shouldn’t be a problem in the short term, but could wind up impacting his longevity in the pros (though his high football character is a factor in making teams feel like he’ll do all he can to take care of it, and give himself the best chance),” Breer wrote.
Fautanu told 950 KJR the knee injury didn’t impact his availability at Washington. He’s also confident it won’t be a concern in the NFL.
“The last time I dealt with it was in 2021, but I never missed any games, never missed any practices due to it. (Breer’s report) was kind of random, honestly.”
Reports of Fautanu’s injury history did little to sway the Steelers away from him. Moments after the selection, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan said Fautanu was the highest ranked player on their draft board.
“We wouldn’t select him if we weren’t comfortable with it,” said Khan, via the team’s YouTube page. “I can’t speak for some of the stuff that’s put out there and what’s true and what’s not, what other people are saying, but we’re comfortable.”
Fautanu’s Draft Night Included Navigating Prank Calls
Every draft hopeful stays close to their phone through draft weekend. Fautanu was no different.
“Up until number 20 when Pittsburgh had called me, I was very stressed,” Fautanu told 950 KJR. “I was gripping my phone. I had a death grip on it. I wasn’t letting it go. Anytime something dinged on my phone or a notification popped off, I was on edge, for sure.
While he waited for the life-changing call, Fautanu said he got several prank calls pretending to be from NFL teams.
“I had gotten 5 or 6 random calls from random people trying to screw with me. I would answer the phone, and I would hear ‘this is so-and-so from this team.’ I talked to these people before, so I know how they sound. It’s probably just some high school kid screwing around. I was a little bit upset about that part, but I guess it’s part of the process.”
