Inside The Huskies

An Insider's Look at UW Offensive Tackle Troy Fautanu ... Finally

The Husky leader draws a glowing pro football report.

Dan Raley

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Last Sunday, we wrote how Troy Fautanu is a special football talent, but the experts either didn't know this yet or the ones who did simply weren't ready to share any insider knowledge regarding the University of Washington junior offensive tackle.

That embargo has been lifted.

Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl executive director and an 18-year NFL scout, on Thursday offered a fairly detailed and glowing breakdown of the 6-foot-4, 312-pound Fautanu, the leader of the Husky offensive line.

In further evaluations, Nagy will need to learn how to spell Bralen Trice's first name correctly, and it looks like he borrowed our profile intro (you be the judge), but the rest of his stuff is clearly original and enlightening while offered in a public setting.

Here's Nagy's take on Fautanu, the Henderson, Nevada, product who started all 13 UW games last season and comes off a second-team All-Pac-12 selection season while aiming for a lot more:

Most NFL draft followers already know about @UW_Football prospects like QB Michael Penix, WR Rome Odunze, & EDGE Braylen Trice, who are all popular names in “way too early” lists, but not enough are familiar with OL @tFautanu Fautanu (6034v, 319v) has played primarily LT but most NFL teams we’ve spoken with are projecting him more inside at next level. #55 pops off tape with his light feet and ability to slide & dance in front of people. He also has some of quickest hands we’ve seen in this OL class. As a puller, Fautanu runs and adjusts like a smaller man so we’d encourage our coaches to use him some at FB in Mobile if he were up for it @seniorbowl has Day 2 grade on Fautanu heading into fall evaluation process and we think he’ll be highest drafted Husky OL since Senior Bowl alum @KalebMcgary was Atlanta Falcons’ first-rounder in 2019. 

In summary, Nagy's highlights are light feet. Quick hands. High draft pick.

What doesn't show up on film is Fautanu is an emotional leader and a classic teammate, someone who will be good in an NFL huddle. 

He's undamaged goods, too, having never been injured on the college level, and he's been developed at a deliberate, methodical pace, though it's still not clear why Jimmy Lake's staff waited so long to use him in that debacle of a 4-8 season in 2021. 

A lot of top-flight UW talent was either mismanaged or injured to be fair back then, a big reason for the program downturn and resulting coaching change. Fautanu didn't just become good overnight.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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