The Pittsburgh Steelers’ first preseason game of the year is in the books. It was the first opportunity for their 2025 squad to play against a different team. Many of the Steelers’ starters didn’t suit up, but plenty of their young players showed some growth. That includes their offensive line, which saw four of its five starters play against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Arthur Smith recently gave his opinion on how offensive tackles Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones looked.
“I thought our conditioning was good,” Smith said Monday via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s YouTube channel. “Those are two good players. I was glad that they played their guys. [Josh] Hines-Allen and [Travon] Walker are pretty good edge guys, so it was good work for Troy [Fautanu] and Broderick [Jones]. I thought the pockets were pretty good. We had the one sack with the little miscue there underneath.”
Hines-Allen and Walker are both former first-round picks, with Walker even going No. 1 overall a few years ago. Last year, they were a productive pair, with Hines-Allen posting eight sacks and Walker having 10.5 of his own.
While it was only the preseason, they were a good test for Jones and Fautanu, who don’t have much experience. They’re both also former first-round picks of the Steelers, but they aren’t proven in the NFL. Jones has been up and down in his two seasons, struggling more often than not last year. Meanwhile, Fautanu barely played during his rookie year due to an injury.
However, they’ve both flashed in training camp, and that carried over to the preseason. Neither Jones nor Fautanu allowed a sack, and while they weren’t perfect, they kept the pocket mostly clean. The one sack that unit allowed on Mason Rudolph felt more like a coverage sack.
Going into this season, the Steelers’ offensive line is facing a lot of pressure. It’s a mostly unproven group, but the team’s offense is going to rely on them. However, Smith has total faith in his guys.
“Last year was one of those years where we had an injury bug and we had a lot of young guys playing for the first time, and they’re going through like any rookie,” Smith said. “We had a lot of mix-and-match lineups. When you have some consistency there, that helps for sure, and that’s what you want to see. I’ve got a lot of confidence. Whoever we put out there, I’ve got confidence.”
Smith is correct that the Steelers dealt with a lot of injuries to their offensive line last year. However, that could serve to help them more in certain ways this year. It allowed players like Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick to gain a lot of valuable experience as rookies.
Despite Fautanu missing a lot of time, it doesn’t seem like he’s missing a beat, either. Reports out of training camp about him have been mostly positive. Of those young pieces, Jones looks like the biggest question mark, but even he’s been better recently. It was a small sample size in only the first preseason game of the year, but there were signs to be optimistic about the Steelers’ offensive line this year.
