The offensive tackle competition started the moment that Troy Fautanu was selected with the No. 20 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the back half of the 2023 season with Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle and Broderick Jones at right tackle, but general manager Omar Khan has said the plan is to eventually move Broderick to the left.
When Fautanu was drafted and Mike Tomlin immediately stated that they view him as a tackle, it became clear that the plan would be to eventually have him start on the right and move Jones back to the left. Fautanu has been playing first-team right tackle at times throughout camp, but they have maintained status quo the majority of the time with Moore on the left and Jones on the right with the first-team offense.
Even when they have inserted Fautanu as the first-team at right tackle, that hasn’t automatically shifted Jones to first-team left tackle. The Steelers are still giving Moore a fair shot to retain his job on the left. From the outside looking in, the plan doesn’t seem clear. Apparently it isn’t clear for the players, either.
Jones was asked after practice if he will be playing on both sides in the preseason.
“I still don’t know,” Jones told the media after Thursday’s practice in a video posted by Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “All I know is, as of right now, I’m the right tackle. Whatever happens tomorrow, we’ll figure it out from there.”
Fautanu got his first full day of first-team work on Tuesday with Moore and Jones rotating at left tackle. On one hand, I understand the need to make rookies earn their jobs and why veterans usually default to pole position when training camp opens up. The veterans very likely do have a leg up just based on knowing the OL coach’s teachings and already being adjusted to the speed of the NFL game.
On the other hand, if they are going to start Jones on the left side, they’d better give him extended work there with the first-team offense between now and the start of the regular season.
Jones was viewed as a relatively raw prospect coming out of Georgia. He had just 19 college starts to his name, and the Steelers then moved him out of his natural left tackle position to play on the right. He adjusted well and flashed good play, but he also had some growing pains in pass protection. If they open the season with him on the right side, it would only take nine more starts at right tackle for him to pass his total college starting experience on the left.
Jones was asked how much time he feels like he needs at left tackle to reacclimate there.
“I feel like it comes natural to me,” Jones told reporters. “So really not that much time, honestly.”
However true that may be, he only has one NFL start at left tackle. The revamped offensive line will have a massive impact on how effective, or not, the offense is in 2024. The sooner the Steelers have Jones work on the left side, the better.
