The general consensus among sports media is that the Pittsburgh Steelers made a good move to trade up three spots and draft Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones at 14th overall. CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr believes it was a good move as well, as he ranked the Steelers selection of Jones as the 11th-best pick of the night.
“The Steelers get their left tackle to block for Kenny Pickett, which they have been seeking all offseason. The raw power Jones possesses is intriguing, as he can develop into a dominant tackle in the NFL with his athleticism. Jones should fit in very well in Pittsburgh,” Kerr wrote.
As subjective as these lists and rankings are, I always consider it a win if the “best pick” ranking is higher than the selection of the actual slot. Given the Steelers picked Jones at 14th and it was considered the 11th-best pick, then it’s a win for Pittsburgh.
Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez was selected by the New England Patriots with the 17th overall pick that Pittsburgh originally held before trading up, and the selection of Gonzalez was ranked as the ninth-best of the night. Pittsburgh, which had needs at both cornerback and offensive tackle, opted to take Jones in a class that has much more cornerback depth than offensive tackle depth. Given the way the board shook out, that appears to have been the right move, but the debate of whether the Steelers should’ve taken Gonzalez over Jones is going to be a little bit of a storyline early on in their respective careers.
This list doesn’t really tell us a whole lot, because, again, it’s subjective. But the Steelers did a good job moving up to take Jones and giving themselves an uber-athletic young offensive lineman they can build around. Jones is likely going to be the team’s Day 1 starter at left tackle, and for a team that wants to build up its ground game, adding someone as talented as he is in that facet is going to make him Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren’s best friend. Even if Jones isn’t a stud Week 1, he’s still young and his traits leave a ton of room for development. The fact that the Steelers only had to give up their own fourth-round pick to move up three spots to take Jones made the first night of the draft a significant win for them.
