All of a sudden there is concern about Broderick Jones along the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line. The Steelers’ tardiness in moving him to the left side had been a major talking point this offseason, but he hasn’t played like a blindside protector during the preseason.
Preseason games are obviously only one part of the evaluation, and they don’t represent how Jones looked in training camp. But the Steelers always place more weight on players’ in-stadium resume, and Jones is putting bad tape out there. That caused former Steelers DL Chris Hoke to tear into him following last night’s preseason game.
“They struggled to protect Russell Wilson and Broderick Jones, he really just came into this game and looked uninterested”, Hoke said on the KDKA Nightly Sports Call Show. “His technique wasn’t very good. He left his chest wide open, was really soft, and he played high, and he allowed [Greg] Rousseau to really push him around”.
Hoke added that Rousseau wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary against Jones and that “he just bullied him”. He also called it tough to watch him play this way in comparison to his more physical performances last year.
It is worth noting that Jones is dealing with some type of injury, apparently. He reportedly declined media interview requests after the Bills game, saying that he had to see the doctor. He wore an elbow brace during training camp, so it will be interesting to see what the doctor says. But either way, he played, and he played poorly.
Broderick Jones, the Steelers’ 2023 first-round pick, started about half of his rookie season at right tackle. That is where he has predominantly practiced and played so far this year, so it’s not a matter of adjustment. He particularly had his hands full last night with Rousseau, a former first-round pick himself.
“One time [Rousseau] got underneath [Jones] and threw him”, Hoke said. “To me, it was technique. He has his arms out wide. He gave him his chest. You never want to give a defender your chest. He was soft on the edge”.
Hoke continued to say that “there’s something going on with him” and noted the “elbow issue”, questioning if that is the problem. He also questioned if everything has put him behind on reps, but we watched training camp, and he worked. And he also refused to allow the elbow to be his get-out-of-jail-free card.
“The reality is he’s got to get better. He’s first-round draft pick. He’s an elite athlete”, Hoke said of Jones, calling him a catalyst for positive developments with the offense last year. Hoke concludes that “He’s got to get back to form and right now; for one [reason] or another, he’s not where he needs to be”.
And Jones certainly isn’t where the Steelers need him to be, figuratively or literally. The Steelers reportedly plan to start rookie Troy Fautanu at right tackle when the season begins. So where does that leave Broderick Jones, who hasn’t practiced or played much left tackle this year? This is where we get into the territory of worrying about this elbow potentially keeping him sidelined initially.
One hopes that Jones is healthy, though clearly he isn’t, at least not entirely. But at the same time, if Jones is healthy enough to perform up to his capacity, then that makes his play even more concerning.
