The Pittsburgh Steelers have invested too much in their offensive line for patience to feel particularly comfortable anymore. Most of the group is young, much of it is homegrown and the organization has spent several offseasons trying to build a front capable of becoming an offensive strength. The pieces are finally in place. One former Steelers lineman just does not expect them to fit together perfectly from the opening snap.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Chris Hoke now does a postgame show on KDKA.
Chris Hoke believes Pittsburgh's offensive line could remain a work in progress through roughly the first half of the season. During a recent discussion, Hoke focused particularly on Troy Fautanu moving from right tackle back to the left side and the technical adjustments that still have to become second nature.
“I think that there’s going to be some growing pains. I think through half the season, it’s going to be a work in progress. And you look at the left side, you got Troy Fautanu who’s going from the right to the left… there are some footwork differences, honestly, going from right to left. So he’s going to have to iron that out quick,” Hoke said.
Fautanu's move is easy to simplify because left tackle is not foreign territory. He played there during his final two seasons at Washington before Pittsburgh selected him 20th overall in 2024. NFL muscle memory is a different issue. Fautanu spent 2025 establishing himself on the right side, and Mike McCarthy shifted him back across the formation this offseason as part of a larger reconstruction up front.
The feet have to relearn the picture from the opposite direction. Sets open differently, the outside rush arrives from another angle and every movement that becomes automatic on the right has to be mirrored. For an offensive tackle dealing with NFL edge speed, needing an extra fraction of a second to think about that movement can be enough to lose the rep.
Pittsburgh has already seen some of the messier parts of the transition. Fautanu battled false starts during training camp and was penalized in the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, including a costly holding call that erased a touchdown. The issue is not whether he possesses enough ability to play left tackle. It is getting the operation clean enough that talent is not repeatedly canceled by something happening before or during the snap.
Hoke specifically pointed toward those penalties as something Fautanu cannot allow to follow him into the regular season.
“He’s got to eliminate those. Those kill you and hurt your drives… that’s going to be a question through the first part of the season, is how quickly can he get acclimated and get cemented in that left side in terms of just playing at that high level like he did last year at right tackle,” Hoke said.
That distinction should keep Pittsburgh from panicking over every imperfect September rep. Fautanu has already demonstrated that he can play tackle at a high NFL level. The question is how quickly the Steelers get that same player while asking his body to perform the job from the other side.
He is not making the transition alone, either. Mason McCormick moved from right guard to left guard alongside him, giving Pittsburgh two established young starters learning mirrored responsibilities at the same time. The pair already understands how to work together from their previous side, but combination blocks, protection handoffs and communication all have to become equally natural after the move.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' offensive tackle Troy Fautanu during regular season game against the Dolphins in the 2025 season.
There are reasons Pittsburgh can afford some patience. Zach Frazier provides stability in the middle, while McCarthy committed to the Fautanu-McCormick pairing on the left months ago rather than continuing to shuffle them late into camp. The Steelers have given that side time to accumulate repetitions together. Now those repetitions have to survive regular-season speed.
The urgency comes from who stands behind them. Aaron Rodgers is not a developmental quarterback Pittsburgh can comfortably allow to absorb unnecessary punishment while its protection learns on the job. Fautanu is protecting the blind side of a veteran passer in an offense expected to compete immediately. Growing pains may be understandable, but Pittsburgh would prefer they involve technique corrections rather than free rushers.
The Steelers also need the line to establish the running game McCarthy has spent the offseason constructing. Penalties are particularly destructive there because a productive five-yard carry can become first-and-15 without the defense winning anything. A young line trying to develop rhythm does not need to keep putting the offense behind schedule itself.
Steelers Need Growing Pains To Stay Temporary
Hoke's timeline is not a prediction that Pittsburgh's offensive line will spend eight weeks playing poorly. A work in progress can still function while individual pieces become increasingly comfortable. The concern is how many mistakes the Steelers have to absorb before those transitions disappear into muscle memory.
Fautanu is the most obvious example because left tackle carries such a visible responsibility. Pittsburgh's move back to the left side asks him to take what worked in 2025 and reproduce it from a different stance, with different footwork and Rodgers' blind side attached to the result.
The talent gives Pittsburgh plenty of reason to believe he will get there. The first half of the season may determine how expensive the learning process becomes before he does.
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