The Pittsburgh Steelers shuffled their offensive line plenty this offseason. Troy Fautanu, Dylan Cook, and Mason McCormick are all starters from 2025 who will start at a new position this season. They took the field together for the first time on Thursday night against Green Bay and weren’t especially impressive. It was a little worrying, but the preseason is the best time to work out the kinks. After one showing, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly isn’t ready to jump to any conclusions. “I wouldn’t worry, ’cause the one you look at is Fautanu. He’s the one [who] really struggled.
That’s the last guy I would worry about, right?” Kaboly said Friday on 93.7 The Fan. “I mean, I don’t think Cook had that bad of a game. I mean, I guess he got beat once, maybe.”
Cook not having “that bad of a game” may be true, but it’s not a high honor for someone who’s competing to start at right tackle. Especially during a preseason game in which some of his reps didn’t come against the Packers’ starters. The Steelers were likely looking for a more consistent performance from Cook on Thursday.
This play is an example; he gets bullied back into the pocket, resulting in a sack. He and Fautanu both have experience in their new positions, but moving back across the line again could require an adjustment period. That was evident for both players.
Fautanu admits he has some stuff to clean up, which showed itself early on in the game. He was called for a false start and, later on the same drive, was flagged for holding, negating a Lew Nichols touchdown run. It was a little unlucky, as Fautanu wasn’t expecting the run to bounce outside. But things like that can’t happen in the regular season.
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Pittsburgh has a crowded tackle room, which makes performances like Thursday’s a little more complicated. Fautanu’s starting spot remains safe, but Cook is competing with Max Iheanachor. A battle Kaboly thinks still lies in Cook’s favor. “If he [Iheanachor] comes back, I don’t know, man. It’s gonna be hard for him to make up that time. And he’s over a week now with nothing,” Kaboly said. Iheanachor is still dealing with a shoulder injury he sustained last week.
Missing time during his first training camp certainly hurts his chances of taking the starting role. However, Cook can’t feel too sure about keeping his starting job right now.
Iheanachor looked great in practice before getting injured, and while games are a very different environment, he seems to be a quick learner. But Cook could have started to put the competition on ice with a good performance on Thursday, and wasn’t able to. Given Iheanachor’s injury, Cook is still in the driver’s seat. Both Cook and Fautanu might look better next week in their second game after switching positions, as well. To Kaboly, it’s not something to worry about just yet.
