Slowly but surely, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been getting their rookies involved in their game plan. Of the six on the roster, five have been active in some form or fashion, with the exception of seventh-round reserve lineman Spencer Anderson.
The other rookie with the least amount of activity? Broderick Jones, the first-round tackle they traded up to get. He has nine total snaps, five of which are on special teams. And he only got four snaps on offense in the opener because of an injury. But the Steelers are open to getting him more involved naturally. It’s something I’ve talked about, the extra lineman role, the tackle-eligible tight end.
“I think that’s certainly a possibility. We’ve explored that in the past”, offensive coordinator Matt Canada told reporters on Thursday, via transcript provided by the team’s media department, when asked about the possibility of the Steelers making use of him as that extra blocker.
“Broderick is coming along and doing a great job, and we certainly want to use him”, he added. “In that capacity or another capacity, we want to get him involved here. Certainly, that’s a point we’re looking to do, but also happy with where we’re at with the guys that are playing”.
Jones actually spent last week working at right tackle, despite having spent the entirety of the offseason working on the left side, preparing to potentially start on the right side with Chukwuma Okorafor working his way through the concussion protocol. His services there were not required, but the coaches liked what they saw.
“I think Broderick did a nice job last week. You weren’t aware, but it wasn’t known coming out where he was going to be”, Canada said regarding his usage in practice. “Broderick had a great week playing right tackle in practice and did a great job of that”.
Having the ability to play both the left and right side is critical for a swing tackle, who is always one snap away from the starting lineup, but it will also be useful in any tackle-eligible role Jones might serve as well. Tight ends have to line up all over the formation, so they have to be comfortable setting up wherever they’re asked.
Considering the unremarkable blocking the Steelers have been getting from the tight end group thus far, particularly from Pat Freiermuth, getting Jones on the field could help kill two birds with one stone. He gets valuable playing experience, and he improves the perimeter blocking at the same time.
Under former offensive coordinator Todd Haley, Pittsburgh made great use of the tackle-eligible role in order to break in young linemen. Just a small sampling of those who filled that role include Kelvin Beachum, Chris Hubbard, Matt Feiler, and Zach Banner.
Jones is dressing every week, anyway, so frankly, they might as well make use of him and find ways to get him on the field. This role just makes too much sense not to pursue, though you can consider me biased as somebody who has advocated for it.
