Fautanu Gives Huskies 3 First-Round Selections in Initial 20 Picks

'the Husky offensive tackle heads to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Troy Fautanu, always a hard hat and lunch bucket guy as a University of Washington offensive lineman, will take his football attributes to an appropriate NFL franchise after the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him No. 20 overall on Thursday night in Detroit.

Choosing to stay home with family members and friends and celebrate the draft from his hometown Las Vegas, the 6-foot-4, 317-pound Fautanu got emotional as he spoke on the phone with his new employers and was shown shedding a few tears. He next got up and hugged what appeared to be his grandparents, then others.

Fautanu was further proof of how good the offense was during the Huskies' CFP national championship run this past winter, with that unit giving them three NFL picks in those first 20 picks. He followed quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who went at No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons, and wide receiver Rome Odunze, taken at No. 9 by the Chicago Bears.

Once the big tackle was selected, this group tied the UW's 2015 showing for the most first-round picks in one draft. Nine years ago, defensive tackle Danny Shelton, cornerback Marcus Peters and linebacker Shaq Thompson went 12, 18 and 25.

Yet another one-time UW teammate for Fautanu showed up in this draft in UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu, who went with the No. 15 pick to the Indianapolis Colts. Those two came in together as Huskies in 2019. Latu injured his neck the following season and medically retired before relaunching his career in Los Angeles.

Fautanu, the Pac-12's Morris Trophy winner as the conference's top offensive lineman, will join another guy in Pittsburgh who previously enjoyed considerable football success in Seattle. -- Russell Wilson. He'll block for newly the acquired quarterback possibly in the NFL money position as Wilson's left tackle.

This Husky standout proved to be one of the few good things that emerged from a disastrous 2021 Washington football season that bottomed out to 4-8, led to an abrupt in-season coaching change and left a pall over the program.

While the Huskies lost their final four games and coach Jimmy Lake and offensive coordinator John Donovan were fired with the season still in progress, Fautanu had a breakthrough moment. He started twice at tackle at midseason when Jaxson Kirkland was injured and opened against Washington State in the Apple Cup -- and he never came out of the lineup again.

Fautanu returned for the 2022 season and impressed Kalen DeBoer's new coaching staff so much he kept the coveted left tackle position to himself, forcing Kirkland the incumbent to move to guard once the latter got healthy. Fautanu wound up starting 29 consecutive games to finish his college career, giving him plenty of momentum heading into the NFL Draft.

The Steelers will receive a feisty yet fun-loving player with great feet, perpetual good health and a 10-year pro football career ahead of him. Taking a look at Fautanu's film, analysts saw a player who continuously pancaked players or pulled and opened huge holes. He easily can play guard or tackle at the next level.

While feisty in the trenches, Fautanu was fun-loving and such a detail guy he learned the names of reporters covering the team without prompting and would tease them while pretending to do media interviews himself.

He also would walk out of the tunnel at Husky Stadium for practice, begin to stretch out and then break into a nimble little dance as the music boomed overhead.

Even after playing five seasons for the Huskies, Fautanu stayed relatively injury free. While the draft reports indicated he had some sort of knee issue when he redshirted as a freshman, this lineman looked robust thereafter while appearing in 41 career games and starting 31.

He's a passionate player, someone capable of becoming a team leader with a personality and a style that make people gravitate to him. Extremely loyal, he came out to UW practice a week ago, pushing aside his draft interests for a moment, to watch his former offensive-line teammates go through drills, chat up alums and, yes, say hi to those reporters.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to sicom/college/washington