Entering the lineup early in the Week Four matchup against the Houston Texans on the road, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie left tackle Broderick Jones had an up-and-down performance.
Jones played in 51 offensive snaps Sunday against the Texans, stepping in for the injured Dan Moore Jr. At times, Jones looked solid holding down the left tackle spot. Other time, he was overmatched, which is expected with a young player coming off the bench for his first real, extended action.
In those 51 snaps, Jones graded out at 53.0 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a 59.5 as a run blocker and a 39.9 in pass protection. Jones’ grade was the lowest of any first-round offensive lineman, according to PFF.
Arizona’s Paris Johnson Jr., the No. 6 overall pick, graded out at a 54.8 overall in Week Four. Chicago’s Darnell Wright, the No. 10 overall pick, earned a 60.5 grade in Week Four. Jacksonville’s Anton Harrison, the No. 27 overall pick, graded out at a 70.1 in Week Four.
“Jones saw his first significant action of the season after starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. suffered an injury early in Week 4. As was the case for his team, Jones had a rough day,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman writes regarding Jones’ performance. “He allowed three pressures and was beaten in pass protection four other times, leading to a 39.9 pass-blocking grade on the day. He struggled to contain Jonathan Greenard’s quickness and was beaten a couple of times on stunts. He could start next week, but Jones’ first real NFL action came with a lot of turbulence.”
There was a lot of turbulence for Jones in his first extended NFL action. After playing just four snaps in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers after right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor left with a concussion, he came on in relief in Week Four, playing those 51 snaps. Twenty snaps were in the run game while 31 were in pass protection.
In total, Jones allowed three pressures in 31 pass-blocking reps and had issues with Greenard, who welcomed the rookie to the NFL a few times with his power and quickness.
Steelers Depot’s own Jonathan Heitritter put together a film room on Jones coming out of the Week Four. Heitritter was pleased with the work that Jones did in the run game but had some concerns with his work in pass protection, as expected, especially with his hand usage.
“Jones also displayed the skill set that made him a tantalizing prospect as a run blocker Sunday against Houston, opening several big holes that both Harris and Warren exploited for big runs. It wasn’t a great debut for Jones, who was thrown into the fire and had to see his quarterback go down. It wasn’t awful either as his play matched Dan Moore Jr. from what we’ve seen in pass protection from him this season and likely surpassed Moore’s play as a run blocker,” Heitritter wrote regarding Jones’ action against the Texans.
There was some good, there was some bad. Plenty to build on with Jones. Though he’s kicking himself for allowing Greenard to get off his block and sack quarterback Kenny Pickett, injuring him in the process, the rookie did just fine in his extended NFL debut. That is promising for the Steelers, regardless of his PFF grade.
