Last season, Pittsburgh put first-round rookie OT Broderick Jones through the wringer in his inaugural season in the NFL. He was drafted to be a left tackle and worked left tackle throughout training camp and preseason in 2023. Jones took his first regular-season snaps at left tackle when Dan Moore Jr. missed time in the first quarter of the season, taking his lumps in his first game against the Houston Texans, but rebounded with a strong performance against the Baltimore Ravens.
Jones was taken out of the lineup when Moore was back healthy. He sat on the bench for one week before being thrown in at right tackle to replace Chukwuma Okorafor. Jones would start at right tackle the rest of the season, but GM Omar Khan has mentioned that the team intends to have Jones move back to the left side. He’s been practicing at both spots through OTA and minicamp, “fine-tuning” to play either position.
Jones has expressed that he’d prefer to stick at left tackle, his more natural position, but will do whatever the team tells him to do. In the case of Jones and his development, it would be wise for Pittsburgh to stick Jones back on the blindside and have Moore and rookie Troy Fautanu duke it out on the right side.
When you go back through last season’s tape, you can see why a return to the left side would benefit Broderick Jones, especially from a pass protection perspective. Jones was baptized by fire in his regular season debut coming off the bench for Moore against the Texans but represented himself admirably just a week later against the Baltimore Ravens, where he allowed just one pressure on 38 pass-blocking reps. The combination of EDGEs Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy wasn’t able to get to QB Kenny Pickett as Jones showed better patience and control in pass protection in his first-ever start on the left side.
While Broderick Jones represented himself in the run-blocking department at right tackle, he struggled to maintain consistency as a pass protector on the right side. He looked uncomfortable at times getting out of his stance and setting the depth of the pocket, allowing pass rushers to turn the corner due to his hands and feet not being synced up, like in this rep below against the Arizona Cardinals, where EDGE BJ Ojulari lands a big hit on QB Mitch Trubisky while Jones hardly gets a hand on the pass rusher.
It didn’t get any better for Broderick Jones on the right side two weeks later against the Indianapolis Colts as he got embarrassed in pass protection in what would prove to be an ugly game for Pittsburgh. DL Dayo Odeyingbo had a career day against Jones, getting to the quarterback multiple times as Jones struggled to sustain his punch and keep Odeyingbo from turning the corner, as well as getting overpowered by Odeyingbo on the bull rush as Jones would drop his head in pass protection.
Against the same Baltimore Ravens who Jones played well against at left tackle to start the season, he hardly resembled the same caliber of player on the right side to close out the regular season. He looked pensive yet again at right tackle, getting overwhelmed by the same pass rushers he neutralized earlier in the season on the right side. Part of it was bad technique once again from Jones as he would drop his head and not sync up his hands and feet on his initial punch. Still, you also see a lack of confidence and comfortability in his reps getting out of his stance and attempting to mirror pass rushers on the right side.
Broderick Jones’ poor play in pass protection at the end of the season was highlighted in the team’s Wildcard loss to the Buffalo Bills, struggling mightily to keep a lid on Buffalo’s pass rush. He looked out of place yet again, failing to get a hand on the pass rusher in the first rep while constantly ducking his head in the other reps, leading to pressures on the quarterback and a bad day at the office for Jones.
Broderick Jones has had an issue of not syncing up his hands and feet and ducking his head since he got drafted out of Georgia, making his woes in pass protection more than just a left tackle versus right tackle problem. Still, Jones did show some major regression and lack of comfortability on the right side compared to his lone start on the left. He looked overwhelmed in plenty of instances to close out the year, including against a Ravens squad he played well against in Week 5 on the left side.
Jones was an inexperienced tackle prospect coming into the league with only 19 starts in college. However, constantly flipping him back and forth isn’t going to help his development, and playing him on his more natural left side is Pittsburgh’s best bet for him to develop into a well-rounded player. This will maintain his nastiness as a run blocker while allowing him to develop as a pass protector on his more natural side, which is similar to using your more dominant hand, as many have made the reference to.
Dan Moore Jr. isn’t much of a player at right tackle either, but he’s not the future at the position. Broderick Jones is, and so is Fautanu, who the team has been practicing at right tackle this summer. If Pittsburgh wants fewer headaches down the road, sticking Jones at left tackle would be a wise move… and the sooner, the better.
