With the Pittsburgh Steelers playing their first preseason game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Friday, all eyes were going to be on the rookies and how they would hold up in their first exposure to the NFL game. With CB Joey Porter Jr. being held out of the contest, Pittsburgh’s first-round draft choice OT Broderick Jones headlined the group as DL Keeanu Benton, TE Darnell Washington, OLB Nick Herbig, and OL Spencer Anderson all had solid NFL debuts.
Jones fared alright on the night, playing 49 offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He was given a 61.7 overall grade by PFF and a 61.7 pass blocking grade as well as a 59.0 run blocking grade. PFF charted Jones with one penalty, two total pressures allowed, one QB hit allowed, and one sack allowed in the Steelers’ 27-17 win. When going through the tape, it is clear the promise Jones brings to the table, but also the technical issues he needs to refine before being ready to man Kenny Pickett’s blindside during the regular season.
The Film
Jones played 29 pass-blocking snaps against the Tampa bay Buccaneers. On one of Jones’ first pass protection snaps, we see him get out of his stance quickly, set the depth of the pocket, and have hands at the ready to punch. He ends up latching on outside of the defender’s outside shoulder with his inside hand, getting knocked back on initial contact. He is able to recover and stall the rush as Mitch Trubisky fires the pass, resulting in an incompletion.
On this pass protection rep, we see the athleticism by Jones. He is calm and sets the depth of the pocket with the edger rusher coming out of a wide-nine stance. He runs the defender around the arc of the pocket, keeping the quarterback clean as the pass is complete to WR Cody White.
One thing Jones needs to continue to work on is hitting and replacing with his hands after his initial punch. Here are a couple of examples from Friday night. Jones gets his first punch on the defender but doesn’t replace quick enough, losing the block resulting in pressure on the quarterback.
In the second clip above, we see Jones pick up the twist run by Tampa Bay’s defensive front, but he is unable to keep the defensive lineman from crossing his face inside, and he chases QB Mason Rudolph out of the pocket. On this twist pickup, however, Jones does a better job staying in front of the defender and uses his momentum to dump him on the turf as Rudolph starts to escape the pocket to the left, taking the pass rusher out of play.
Still, Jones needs to play with a more consistent base in pass protection and impose his will with his hands rather than having his shoulders turned by the pass rusher. Watch this rep with Jones facing OLB Markees Watts (No. 58) as Watts gets inside Jones’ chest with a bull rush. Watts proceeds to push Jones back in the pocket as Jones starts to give up his outside shoulder. This allows Watts to fight off the block and get a hand on QB Tanner Morgan, getting the strip-sack fumble that Jones falls on to prevent the turnover.
When watching Jones in the running game, you see the same aggressiveness he approaches his blocks with, but the need to do a better job of staying engaged throughout the block. You see several instances of him getting a good initial punch but then letting up on the block. Watch this rep as Jones double teams the down defensive lineman with No. 74 Spencer Anderson. He proceeds to climb up to the linebacker in the box, getting his hands on the linebacker initially, but the defender sidesteps Jones and gets in on the tackle.
We see a better rep from Jones on this inside run, working up to the second level and squaring up the off-ball linebacker. Jones turns the linebacker’s shoulders away from the play and uses his right arm to torque him toward the sideline. Now Jones does have his left hand hooked around the linebacker’s torso on the play, which could have resulted in a penalty. Jones also gets too upright, getting chucked by the linebacker at the end of the play. Still, Jones makes the block and clears out the linebacker from flowing to the runner on the rep.
Conclusion
Broderick Jones didn’t have a dominant NFL debut, but he represented himself alright in his first exposure to live competition in a stadium environment. His technical issues that were on his college tape at Georgia were still noticeable Friday night. Jones has trouble maintaining blocks past initial contact as well as working with independent hands in pass protection, hitting and replacing to defend against counter rushes by the defense. Jones did showcase that same bully mentality his played with in college though, having the aggressive demeanor to impose his will in the running game while also flashing that athleticism in pass protection as a fluid mover setting the pocket.
Given that it was his first NFL game, Jones should be given some grace. He will continue to improve with more experience and live reps in stadiums. However, based on the things he needs to work on from a technical standpoint, it may be wise for Pittsburgh to keep Dan Moore Jr. penciled in as the team’s starting left tackle to open the 2023 regular season until Jones proves he is ready for the starting role against better competition.
