Steelers Now
Originally appeared at Steelers Now: Steelers Scout Gave Pittsburgh Assurance on Troy Fautanu
Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round selection Troy Fautanu recently joined the Softy and Dick Show on 950 KJR in Seattle, and during the interview he described the inner details of his draft day experience.
According to Fautanu, Steelers general manager Omar Khan was on pins and needles while they were waiting to see what the Rams would do. Not that it’s surprising, but Pittsburgh had people pushing for Fautanu, and Khan wanted him badly.
“They had called me pretty early. They called me earlier than usual because Omar [Khan] and Coach [Mike] Tomlin were basically like on edge trying to get me. So, while we were sitting there waiting, throughout the entire LA Rams pick, who had number 19. And basically he [Omar Khan] called me while the Rams were on the clock, and he was asking me, ‘Are you getting any other phone calls?’ Because they didn’t know if someone was gonna trade up to get me. So he was kinda on edge as well, trying to make sure no one else was gonna call. But I told him when I figured out who it was, I told him, I was like, ‘Mr. Khan, I’m not dropping this phone.’ It was almost like it was meant to be,” Fautanu said, via SteelersNation.com.
Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot noticed that scout Kelvin Fisher said ‘7 of 20’ in the video that showed Fautanu’s call with Mike Tomlin, signaling that the team likely got someone they thought was the 7th best player in the entire class.
If you listen back to Mike Tomlin's draft call to Troy Fautanu, you can hear scout Kelvin Fisher (over Tomlin's shoulder) call out "7 out of 20"
Based on that & how the Steelers build their board, I think Fautanu was their No. 7 prospect. Awesome value.https://t.co/WEafwOVdW8 pic.twitter.com/CzBBCeSD2M
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) April 28, 2024
But it was West Coast area scout Mark Bruener who gave the Steelers the confidence to go out and draft Fautnau. Otherwise, they very well could have been on the outs on Fautanu, who comes from Washington, an area they typically do not go to for high draft picks.
“We were extremely excited that we were able to pick him at 20,” Bruener said in a May 3 interview with Seattle’s Sports Radio 950 KJR. “We had no inkling that he was going to be around at 20…He was a guy that I stood on the table for. When we’re evaluating our players, we have a lot of people that evaluate them. So, our assistant general manager came out to evaluate him. We had other area scouts. We had over-the-top scouts. He was evaluated by a lot of people, and he played football the right way, as we Steelers evaluate our players. We were very, very lucky, and we’re happy to have him as a Steeler.”
But apparently, it could have been much different....
