Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Broderick Jones had his first start in Pittsburgh’s Week 5 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and Jones demonstrated why the Steelers traded up to take him. He was an anchor at left tackle, with a PFF grade of 74.8, and showing off his run blocking abilities with a 77.2 run block grade. Center Mason Cole praised Jones for being ready and having fight in a must-win divisional game.
“Broderick, he held his own in there. Coach [Mike Tomlin] was talking about it a lot during the week, just having fight as a team, and I think Broderick showed a lot of that,” Cole said via video posted to the Steelers YouTube channel. “There was no backing down from him. He played his butt off.”
Going up against a divisional rival is never an easy thing to do, especially when it’s a guy’s first NFL start. But Jones answered the challenge, and Cole was impressed with how he responded to the pressure.
“I think there’s certainly a pressure aspect to it, first-round pick getting his first start in a big divisional game. I think he handled it well. He had no choice but to handle it well, and he did.”
Jones’ performance is going to leave the Steelers with a legitimate question of who should start at left tackle when Dan Moore Jr. returns from injury. Pat Meyer already said the team will need to evaluate the position due to how well Jones performed, and it’s possible that the rookie won himself a starting job with his game against the Ravens.
Moore has gone up against a lot of talented defensive linemen this season, but he’s struggled this season for the most part. Jones stepped in and had a heck of a performance in his first career start. With the rookie possessing athletic traits that Moore just doesn’t have and showing himself worthy as both a pass and run blocker, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him at left tackle against the Rams in Week 7.
Even though the Ravens were depleted off the edge against Pittsburgh with Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo both out with injury, Jones showed that he’s capable of being a starter in this league. After sitting behind Moore for much of the early part of the season, there wasn’t rust or rookie mistakes that you might expect from a typical rookie offensive lineman. That’s not say they won’t come, and Jones wasn’t a world-beater against the Houston Texans when he replaced the injured Moore, but the Ravens performance provides a lot of hope and shows what the Steelers thought Jones could be.
We’ll see what the team ultimately decides going forward, but having a rookie road-grader at left tackle who proved he can be stout as a pass blocker and protect Kenny Pickett’s blind side might be an intriguing option for the Steelers.
