The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted an offensive tackle in the first round last April for the first time since Jamain Stephens in 1996 when they traded up to take OT Broderick Jones out of the University of Georgia with the 14th overall selection. This was part of a multi-year offensive line rebuild that also saw the Steelers sign OG James Daniels in 2022 and OG Isaac Seumalo in 2023.
The recent moves that the Steelers made suggested a very clear intended identity—they wanted to play bully ball.
Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked during his Thursday press conference if Jones is the intended starter at left tackle next season.
“Undecided as of yet,” Tomlin said via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Obviously he has capabilities in that area, but he was more than capable at right tackle as well.”
Jones did not begin the season as a starter as Dan Moore Jr. won the competition for left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor remained the right tackle. Jones got his first start in Week Five at his natural left tackle position due to an injury to Moore, but Moore was given his job back once healthy. A few games later, Okorafor was benched for some comments he said he made during the Steelers’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Eight.
Jones never relinquished that right tackle job, starting the rest of the way. His insertion into the starting lineup brought a new life to the rushing attack as the Steelers became one of the best rushing offenses in the league over the second half of the season.
Tomlin didn’t get too far into speculation and admitted that he hasn’t had any meaningful conversations about roster construction for 2024 yet, so his non-answer is not surprising. Moore is still under contract next season for the final year of his rookie contract. He will almost certainly still be on the roster next season, but whether he starts will be dependent on the type of talent available to the Steelers in free agency and the draft. The Steelers will need to take a long look because Moore graded as the worst pass-blocking tackle in the entire league for the 2023 season, per Pro Football Focus.
The tackle group is very deep in this year’s draft with some excellent top-end talent at both left and right tackle. Given that the Steelers had not drafted a tackle in the first round since 1996 until Jones last year, it would be interesting to see it happen in back-to-back years. That being said, the Steelers are operating with a new front office. Omar Khan and Andy Weidl seem to have the big men up front at the forefront of their minds when it comes to roster construction.
Though Jones fared well for the most part at right tackle, he struggled down the stretch as a pass blocker. There is a legitimate worry that the Steelers could be going down the same path they went down with OG Kevin Dotson. He struggled as the starter at left guard only to go to the Los Angeles Rams and blossom, establishing himself as one the best guards in the league at his natural position of right guard.
