Having previously conducted a film room study on RG James Daniels for the site after receiving a literal 0.0 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, it was easy to notice rookie RT Broderick Jones sticking out in Saturday’s 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts… and not in a good way. Jones played particularly poorly this past weekend, posting just a 19.3 pass-blocking grade and an overall grade of 38.7, according to PFF. When going back through the tape, you see the film matches up with Jones’ poor metrics from the performance, being a game that he will soon look to forget.
The Film
According to PFF, Jones allowed five pressures, three hurries, and two sacks against Indianapolis. It wasn’t all bad for Jones in pass protection, though, as we saw some of the flashes of play that he has put on tape this season. He possesses the combination of strength as well as athleticism to keep pass rushers from winning the edge. Watch this rep against DE Kwity Paye, where Jones initially drops his head on contact, getting pushed back by Paye on the bull rush. However, Jones quickly recovers and stalls Paye’s rush, keeping him from winning around the corner and getting home to the quarterback.
We also saw Jones flash as a run blocker against the Colts, pulling out his signature snatch trap block on Pittsburgh’s touchdown drive on their second possession of the game. Watch as Jones gets on top of DL DeForest Buckner right as the ball is snapped, snatching his shoulders down while proceeding to plant him into the turf, finishing on top of the former Pro Bowler as RB Jaylen Warren runs to the left side, nearly getting into the end zone.
However, most of the game was pretty ugly for Jones in the pass-blocking department as he struggled to keep QB Mitch Trubisky upright in the pocket. The first sack he allowed came on this rep facing DL Dayo Odeyingbo, who had a big day for the Colts against Pittsburgh. Odeyingbo comes off the edge from a wide stance, using a club/rip combo to clear Jones, who loses the corner to Odeyingbo, getting into the pocket, and manages to chase down Trubisky for the sack.
We see Odeyingbo get to Trubisky again on a combined sack with DE Samson Ebukam on the play below, this time with Jones initially stalling the early portion of Odeyingbo’s rush. However, Odeyingbo manages to rip off the block and go with his arm over Jones to the inside, tracking down Trubisky in the pocket as he starts to try and scramble, getting wrapped up by both Colts’ defenders for the takedown in the backfield.
Jones’ worst loss in pass protection of the game came on this rep against Odeyingbo, where the defender stunts inside as DL Tyquan Lewis works to the same gap, making a congested mess upfront to try and block for Jones and RG James Daniels. Odeyingbo blows right past Jones’ face, getting his arm over the blocker’s head, and manages to stay upright when Jones tries to knock him off his course as he clears the gap, proceeding to flatten Trubisky in the pocket for the big sack.
Outside of the sacks that Jones allowed on the game, he also allowed several pressures due to poor technique that has followed him from his playing days at Georgia. One of Jones’ bad tendencies is to drop his head and lunge forward in pass protection, and we see that again here on this rep where he and Daniels perfectly execute the switch on the Colts’ twist but drops his head and lunges into Lewis rather than moving his feet and punching with his hands, allowing Lewis to turn the corner into the pocket and put pressure on Trubisky. Luckily, Trubisky climbs the pocket and finds WR Diontae Johnson along the sideline for the first down.
Conclusion
Jones played his worst game as a professional against the Colts, routinely getting beat in pass protection both with poor technique when it comes to his footwork and dropping his head as well as sustaining blocks on opposing pass rushers. These were issues that Jones dealt with consistently in college, and they have followed him into the league. He looked like he was showing positive development in these areas of his game several weeks ago, but they came back in an unpleasant way Saturday against Indianapolis as Odeyingbo managed to have a career day against him.
Jones is still a rookie and was raw coming up, meaning that he still has plenty of time to develop into a more consistent pass protector at the pro level. Still, you don’t want to see these levels of low play from your first-round pick and potential future franchise offensive tackle, meaning that Jones will need to work past this dreadful performance, learning from what he did wrong. He should burn the tape and focus on having a better representation of what he can be in this league against the Bengals this coming weekend.
