On Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers OT Broderick Jones spoke to the media prior to practice as the team prepares to make the transition from the preseason, being less than two weeks out from their first regular-season game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Jones talked about his relationship with fellow OT Dan Moore Jr. and how the two have a good friendship while pushing each other for the starting left tackle job during training camp. When asked what the most important thing is that he’s learned from Moore the last few months, Jones mentioned that his hands have been a point of emphasis that he’s worked on with Moore to try and improve.
“Throwing… using my hands in pass pro, you know?” Jones told the media via video from Steelers.com. “That was the biggest emphasis for me when I first got here. Just being more hands on, using my hands and trying to fix that within the techniques.”
Jones’ hand usage in pass protection was one of his biggest issues coming out the University of Georgia, often failing to time his punch correctly or sustain his blocks after initial contact. We have seen these same struggles during the preseason, needing to do a better job of hitting and replacing to sustain his blocks in pass protection as well as landing his punch on the right landmark of a defender’s torso.
Learning from Moore can be a great opportunity for Jones as the former was thrown into the fire right away his rookie season. Moore predictably struggled as a fourth-round rookie going against the likes of DE Myles Garrett and other pass rushers as a young offensive tackle that wasn’t clean with his hand usage in pass pro in combination with his base and footwork. However, Moore has shown improvement since then and has looked much better thus far in 2023 compared to his rookie year, being steadier as he protects QB Kenny Pickett’s blindside.
Jones is a great athlete and can be a heck of a run blocker, but he needs to improve his consistency in pass protection if he ever hopes of becoming a starting left tackle in the league. Well, it looks like he’s taking the right steps to do so, getting with a veteran like Moore to learn how to execute better on the field, that way he can be ready if and when the opportunity presents itself this season.
