First-round picks bring with them an inherent level of excitement, not to mention an anticipation to witness the beginning of their careers as starters. For the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Broderick Jones, it’s very much looking like it might have to wait.
The big tackle out of Georgia ran extensively with the second-team line behind incumbent Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle throughout training camp. Though he’s gotten occasional spurts of reps with the starters, he hasn’t been elevated. To Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ray Fittipaldo’s eye, that has as much to do with Moore as it does with Jones, naming the former as the most improved player of the offseason for the Steelers.
“Maybe a false start penalty here and there where they yank him, but other than that, his pass protection has been really good”, he told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on Thursday on 93.7 The Fan in wrapping up his training camp coverage. “We’ll see if it translates into games”.
As his hosts belittled and ridiculed Moore over their personal perceptions of his past performance, Fittipaldo grew more cautious in how he described the third-year veteran. With that being said, it’s fair to note that he left a lot of room to grow at the end of last season.
“I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that Dan Moore’s gonna develop into a Pro Bowler”, he said, “but based off what I’ve seen this summer compared to previous summers, it’s almost like a night-and-day difference. He has improved, and that’s part of the reason why Broderick Jones is still where he is. A lot of it does have to do with Dan Moore and the progress he’s made”.
Jones is going to be the starting left tackle sooner or later—it’s just that it’s shaping up to be later than the sooner everybody was hoping for, even predicting. Though we’re still weeks away, it seems extremely unlikely that he would open the regular season as a starter.
And it’s unclear how much if any playing time he might get with first-team personnel on Saturday night in the team’s second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. He did play extensively last week, but only after the first-string players exited the game after one drive.
I would imagine the plan remains the same in their desire to get long looks at him over the next two weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me, however, if he does get a series with the starters. Head coach Mike Tomlin said that the starters will play longer. If they get three drives, perhaps he gets one.
Assuming he doesn’t start, I still anticipate seeing him on the field. The Steelers will likely begin working him as a tackle-eligible candidate now that the public eyes are off their practice sessions at Latrobe. It seems like a no-brainer, and certainly more plausible and desirable than Kendrick Green as a sixth lineman.
