As an offensive lineman, your job is to keep the quarterback healthy and upright. As the left tackle, your job is to protect the blindside of the quarterback, making sure defenders don’t get a free shot where the passer can’t see them with their head turned away from them.
That’s the task that LT Broderick Jones signed up for with the Pittsburgh Steelers, becoming the hopeful long-term solution at left tackle after they traded up to select him in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He got his first meaningful snaps of the regular season against the Houston Texans, stepping in for Dan Moore Jr., who left the game with a knee injury. However, late in the third quarter, Jones was facing Texans EDGE Jonathan Greenard on a fourth-and-one play. He lost control of his man as QB Kenny Pickett attempted to scramble out of the pocket, getting wrapped up and awkwardly brought down by Greenard, causing Pickett to leave the game with a knee injury.
Asked about the play after the game in the locker room, Jones expressed his obvious frustration at seeing his quarterback go down with a game-ending injury.
“Just a busted play,” Jones said to the media via video from Steelers.com. “That’s all it was, really. I’m mad ’cause like, I got love for Kenny. So, when I see something like that go down, it just, words can’t even explain.”
When you watch the play, you see Pickett feel pressure coming from No. 96 Maliek Collins coming up the middle, causing him to scramble to his left. However, LG Isaac Seumalo shoves Collins to the ground, allowing Pickett to stay in the pocket had he chosen to do so. Instead, Pickett drifts to the left, running right into Greenard, who gets off Jones’ block and swings him down to the ground for the sack, injuring Pickett in the process.
You feel terrible for Jones, who was thrust into action due to Moore’s injury, being tasked to protect Pittsburgh’s hopeful franchise quarterback as the premium left tackle they traded up to go get. Jones could have done a better job sustaining his block as his hand placement, punch accuracy and replacement of his hands have all been issues he’s dealt with since his time at Georgia. But it’s hard to pin all the blame on Jones as Pickett has had a bad tendency to scramble into pressure when unwarranted, running right into the defender when he could have stepped up in the pocket.
We’ll have to wait for the All-22 to get a better view of the play, but either way, it’s a tough situation for Jones to be in for his first extended taste of regular-season NFL football. He’s tasked with keeping the quarterback clean and keeping him upright and healthy, only to see Pickett go down with what could be a serious knee injury. Hopefully Jones is able to rebound from this experience, not losing confidence, but rather using it as fire to commit himself to being better going forward, believing he can be a franchise left tackle in this league the same way the Steelers did when they drafted him.
