To say that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie LT Broderick Jones’ start on Sunday was the first of many is kind of pointless, because it always went without saying that he would be making many starts. The question is if his next start will be the Steelers’ next game, or rather if he will continue to start when incumbent Dan Moore Jr. gets healthy.
Drafted 14th overall in the first round after they traded up to get him, Jones was officially the Steelers’ left tackle of the future the second the New England Patriots agreed to trade back. The timing was the only variable, and to Moore’s credit, he’s done everything he can to hold onto his job, while also being a good teammate. QB Kenny Pickett gave him credit for being a resource to Jones this past week, as he has been all along.
“No, he did a great job”, he said of Jones yesterday, via the team’s website. “When Brod came in, he prepared hard. I’m really proud of his preparation, the energy and the enthusiasm he brought. I think that they do a great job in that room. Dan [was] obviously in there helping him out as much as he could to get ready to go, so they all worked together, and it was good”.
Up to now, Moore is the only left tackle Pickett has known since arriving in the NFL a year ago as a first-round pick. But it wasn’t a bad idea this offseason for the Steelers to use their next first-round selection to find a more long-term answer.
Though he did not win the starting job over Moore coming out of the preseason, the Steelers were still high on what they had seen from Jones. They understood that he was still fairly raw and inexperienced coming out of Georgia. There was patience rather than discouragement.
As for Moore, he took the selection of Jones in stride. He put in the best offseason of his career and held off the rookie. Sure, he struggled, much as he had before, once the regular season rolled around, but the work that he put in to try to be at his best cannot be faulted.
And all along, he has always made the time for Jones despite knowing full well that he is the man who would be taking his job at some point. Even knowing that that time might be now, he spent his time this past week when he wasn’t rehabbing his knee injury getting the rookie ready to make his NFL starting debut.
You might say that’s expected of any professional in this setting, but it’s always struck me as Moore going above and beyond the expectations. Jones talked about the veteran’s help in late August, for example, working with him on his handwork in pass protection. He called Moore an asset just weeks prior to that as well.
And Moore hasn’t been light on the praise for his protégé either. At the end of the day, they’re teammates all striving for the same broader goal. They both know the best way to reach that goal is to help each other out. And that’s what they’ve done, even at the likely moment of transition in their roles, soon to be reversed.
