Troy Fautanu idolized Troy Polamalu. Now he's following in Polamalu's footsteps in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected offensive tackle Troy Fautanu with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the NFL draft.

All of which made Thursday night so surreal when Fautanu picked up the phone and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was on the other end, telling the massive offensive tackle Pittsburgh had just selected him with the 20th overall pick in thePolamalu's career ended with a pair of Super Bowl rings and a gold Hall of Fame jacket. The 23-year-old Fautanu's immediate goals are more far modest, in the short term anyway.

While the 6-foot-4, 317-pound Fautanu is a shade undersized for a tackle, Tomlin doesn't view that as an issue. If anything, the perception that Fautanu is small in an NFL sense probably helped him stay on the board until 20. “He was the highest-rated guy on our board,” Khan said."That just speaks to our level of excitement.”

The Steelers still plan on relying heavily on one of the top running back tandems in the NFL in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, both of whom topped 1,000 total yards last season. Tomlin said Fautanu caught his eye while casually watching Washington games last season. There was something about the way the Huskies utilized Fautanu in an offense that featured left-handed quarterback Michael Penix that struck Tomlin as unique.

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