The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Will Broderick Jones have to wait until next season to start?
I’m not sure there are really any benchmarks left that we can point to this season and say, “Maybe now’s the time Broderick Jones will enter the starting lineup”. The bye week has come and gone. Jones has already started a game and played well. We’re seven weeks into his career.
If he doesn’t start now, then when is he going to? I think the obvious answer is either until Dan Moore Jr. struggles so greatly that it’s clearly sabotaging the offense’s ability to function, or…not until next season. Otherwise, it is status quo. Or so it seems.
If anybody else can offer up a plausible scenario beyond a catastrophic failure from Moore beyond anything we’ve already seen that results in Jones starting, I’m all years. Obviously we’re not including injury, because that’s accepted as a given. As far as I can see, the job is clearly Moore’s job to lose for the rest of the season rather than Jones’ to win.
Now, we should acknowledge a couple of things here. For one thing, Moore’s gradings that you might have seen from outlets like Pro Football Focus are just one data point. He may not have been playing well, but his grades were comically low, too. And he had his best game of the season on Sunday against the Rams, as well.
If Moore were a greater liability out on the field, I think we probably would have been a change made by now. Perhaps the Steelers are being overly cautious in bringing Jones along, and that is part of the equation as well. But I think it’s also clear that the coaches feel a lot better about what Moore brings at left tackle than those on the outside do.
