The Pittsburgh Steelers got the doors blown off them Sunday afternoon in Houston, losing to the Texans, 30-6, in a laugher. The offense was downright embarrassing and added injury to insult with QB Kenny Pickett, LT Dan Moore Jr., and TE Pat Freiermuth all getting knocked out of the game.
Moore went down late in the first quarter with a knee injury, causing rookie OT Broderick Jones to see extended regular-season snaps for the first time of his NFL career. He had several low moments against Houston, as to be expected for a rookie, but he also provided some flashes of promise of what he could become as an NFL offensive tackle.
The Film
From Jones’ first snap in the game, he got tested by Houston’s defensive front. Watch the clip below where Jones comes out of his stance on the snap and shoots his hands at DE Jonathan Greenard. Greenard uses a two-hand swipe move to knock Jones’ hands aside and rips through the block across his face. Greenard gets to QB Kenny Pickett as he releases the pass, giving him a nice shoulder check to put Pickett on the ground as he completes the pass to WR George Pickens in the flat.
Shortly after taking that hit, Pickett gets pressured again by Greenard. He goes into Jones with a powerful bull rush, bench pressing Jones into the pocket where he fights off the block attempt by Jones and takes Pickett down by the legs. Pickett manages to check the ball down to RB Jaylen Warren in the flat, salvaging a play that could have been a sack.
Still, Jones showed positive moments as well in Sunday’s contest, displaying the traits that made him an attractive NFL prospect, prompting Pittsburgh to trade up to draft him in the first round. Coming out of Georgia, Jones was known for being a dominant run blocker, paving the way for a Bulldogs power running game. We saw instances of that on Sunday with Jones clearing running lanes for both RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Watch this run by Harris. Jones doubles DL Maliek Collins with Isaac Seumalo before climbing up to pick up LB Christian Harris, clearing him out of the way as Harris gets into the second level and breaks a couple more tackles to finish the explosive run.
Jones also gets the important kickout block on DL Dylan Horton, creating a perfect seal to get Warren into the second level. There, he accelerates toward the sideline, picking up 18 yards on a season-long run for the second-year back.
After initially struggling to pick up Houston’s exotic stunts and twists in the passing game, Jones got better at recognizing them later in the game and doing a good job of passing off the defensive end to Seumalo while picking up the interior defender coming around the edge. Here are a couple of instances of Jones executing proper twist/stunt pickup, passing off his man to Seumalo while covering up the defender coming toward the edge to keep Pickett clean in the pocket.
However, Jones’ defining play against Houston will be this rep on fourth and one where Pickett ends up getting hurt and leaving the game with a knee injury. As mentioned after the game on first watch, blame should go to both Pickett and Jones. The latter initially gives ground to Greenard, who uses a long-arm move to walk him backward, eventually losing leverage as Pickett attempts to scramble from the pocket. However, Jones does stop the rush from collapsing the pocket, giving Pickett space to slide to his left and step up in the pocket once Seumalo pushes Collins to the side. Rather, Pickett does a full spin, turning his back to the play and spins right into Greenard, who wraps him up and awkwardly takes him down for the sack.
Conclusion
Given the circumstances, Sunday against the Texans was probably the best-case scenario for Jones to see his first extended action of the season rather than heavy doses of Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett, or Maxx Crosby to open the year. It was a mixed bag of results for Jones, who obviously struggled containing Greenard’s power rushes as well as consistently winning with his punches and displaying proper hand placement. However, Jones did show promise in pass protection, handing Greenard for several reps while also picking up various stunts and twists effectively throughout the contest.
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.
We have yet to learn the extent of Moore’s knee injury. Should he miss time, Jones will be slated to get his first NFL start against the Baltimore Ravens this coming Sunday. Even if Moore is cleared to play, I would be hesitant to take Jones out of the lineup, seeing as Moore hasn’t looked great to start the year and Jones needs reps to continue his development into Pittsburgh’s hopeful franchise left tackle.
Pittsburgh’s schedule lightens up the next few weeks from a pass rusher standpoint, making this an ideal time as any to insert Jones into the starting lineup and see what he is made of after getting tested by fire in Houston.
