In the final practice before the long weekend, OG Isaac Seumalo tore his pectoral muscle. Thankfully, it wasn’t a serious injury, but if he had missed the entire season, it could have had a significant impact on the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line. Steelers insider Jerry Dulac believes that first-round draft pick Troy Fautanu could have been moved to guard.
“If Seumalo’s injury had required surgery and caused him to miss the entire season, the Steelers would likely have moved Fautanu to guard.” Dulac wrote via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:“But in the short term, they have no plans to do so.”
Fautanu was injured in the preseason opener with what was reportedly a mild MCL sprain, forcing him to miss the remainder of the preseason.
In this what-if scenario, Fautanu moving to guard would add depth to the entire offensive line. The tackle position was deep with two first-round picks in the past two drafts. They also had Dylan Cook, but he was placed on IR with an expected return. The center position is currently thin with an injury to Nate Herbig. A long-term injury to Seumalo would likely require outside help.
It would also have created confusion about Fautanu and his long-term development as a tackle. The Steelers claimed they drafted him as a tackle when many draft experts called him a guard because he was a bit short for an NFL tackle, but his arm length made up for it.
Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that, as Seumalo is expected to miss 3-4 weeks. As of now, the team has not placed him on IR, which is good news in that it could allow for an early return.
Seumalo is scheduled to begin practice on Monday, nearly a month after his injury. Durack reported that Troy Fautanu is expected to be the Week 1 starter, but his late return to practice makes it unclear. The full roster should be available when practice begins this week, but it will likely be Dan Moore Jr. on the left wing and Broderick Jones on the right.
