Barring a surprising twist, rookie Broderick Jones is expected to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ right tackle, at least for the remainder of the season. Listed as co-starter with Chukwuma Okorafor, he started last week and has been practicing with the first-team offense this week.
No changes are anticipated moving forward unless he falls on his face. But if push comes to shove, Jones knows where he’d rather be. “I would prefer left, yes”, he acknowledged in speaking to reporters on Thursday, via the team’s website.
That would be at left tackle, where he played the overwhelming majority of his snaps during his college career. In comparison, he only got a few dozen snaps or so on the right side, though he said after he was drafted that he practiced both sides every day.
“It just feels more natural to me”, the rookie first-round pick admitted, referring to playing at left tackle rather than right. “But at the end of the day, I’m just gonna do what coach wants me to do, so if they feel like [me playing on the] right is what’s gonna help my team win”.
Jones did start at left tackle in Week Four, but that was because starter Dan Moore Jr. missed that game with a knee injury. Once he returned following the bye week, he was immediately plugged back into the starting lineup without missing a beat. Indeed, Moore is playing his best ball of the season since then.
It was only following the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that the matter of Jones at right tackle emerged. Okorafor said that he was being disciplined for something he said on the field, though it seems Jones played so well in his stead that he forced the conversation of a more permanent change.
While he might settle in at right tackle for the remainder of this season, however, one presumes that his future remains squarely on the left. It is true that the boundaries between left and right tackles have steadily eroded in recent years. Some of the game’s best pass rushers are on that side. But on the whole, left tackle still remains more prestigious—and is still on the blind side of most quarterbacks.
The Steelers drafted Jones, indeed traded up for him, with the idea that he was their left tackle of the future. He’s only playing on the right side now because that is where they saw an opening in the starting lineup.
Of course, many fans would dispute that. Some would have seen him start the season opener at left tackle over Moore. And I think it’s fair to question whether their best combo is Moore-Jones or Jones-Okorafor.
But that is where things stand at this time, with the rookie getting used to a more unnatural position for him to play. All while likely keeping his eyes on the long-term prize, which is the starting left tackle job. That likely will come in 2024, but he’ll take what playing time is available to him until then.
