Going from being a highly touted, sought-after player at the collegiate level with a sparkling reputation to battling for a job at the next level in the NFL can be a humbling experience.
That’s not the case for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie left tackle Broderick Jones.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday following his arrival at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for his first training camp with the Steelers, Jones said that being in a position battle and having a lot of attention on the offensive line in general is nothing new to him.
“I believe that’s anywhere you go, if you don’t have an o-line set in stone, I feel like that’s one of the most positions like that everybody looked forward to watching because just like at Georgia it was always the trenches for us,” Jones said to reporters Wednesday, according to video via the Steelers official YouTube page. “It’s not anything new to me because my coach at Georgia used to always tell me your spot is never set in stone. Your spot can always be taken. So, you just gotta come and perform every day that you have work to do.”
That’s a great mentality to have for a young player like Jones.
Jones was considered one of the best left tackles in the 2023 NFL Draft class, which caused the Steelers to move up from No. 17 to No. 14 to secure the Georgia product. But even with that large draft capital spent to acquire him, Jones isn’t stepping into his first training camp with the Steelers taking anything for granted, instead focusing on giving 100 percent every day on the field in an effort to improve and eventually work his way into the lineup.
Jones certainly has all the tools with his size, athleticism and overall mentality at the position to be a great one for the Steelers.
He’s a mauler in the run game, one who moves extremely well and can climb to the second level or get out in space to really lay the wood to a defender, springing the running back. He has light feet in pass protection as well and moves quite well in his pass sets. That said, he needs to continue to develop his hand usage and has a tall task in front of him of truly grasping offensive line coach Pat Meyer’s independent hand usage technique for offensive linemen in pass protection.
We’ll see how long it takes him to hit the field with the starters and how he adjusts to the NFL game after just 19 games at Georgia. But based on his traits and overall production in those 19 games in the SEC with Georgia in which he didn’t allow a single sack, he could see the field rather quickly on Pittsburgh’s rebuilt left side next to new left guard Isaac Seumalo.
The book on Jones is that he is a raw but uber-athletic player. He started only one full season at Georgia. He’s very young overall and quite inexperienced, so there’s some developing and maturity that needs to take place in Pittsburgh.
The good news is that he has the mindset of wanting to be great and wanting to put in the work. Pair that with the tools that he has at his disposal and it’s not a surprise to see why Meyer is so excited about his future and believes he can become a great player in the NFL. He won’t be overwhelmed by the moment or the attention that will be paid to him in his first training camp, either.
