I went into Broderick Jones’ tape this week expecting to make a film room about his pass blocking after Pro Football Focus gave him the highest grade of his career in that area. I liked what he did in that area, but what caught my eye was his aggression in the run game.
Dating back to the preseason, Jones’ technique has been all over the place, but perhaps more disappointingly, his nasty demeanor that showed up on tape throughout his rookie season all but vanished over the first two months of the season. Even as his technique rebounded, his motor to play through the whistle just didn’t seem to be there.
There were three blocks in the run game from the win over the Washington Commanders that really caught my eye.
Many of his successful blocks in the run game this season have been more about getting defenders to turn their body and sealing them away from the play. That method can work in different situations, but sometimes it’s necessary to get the feet going to create some displacement.
On this play, he lands his punch to the chestplate of the defensive lineman, widens out his base and drives his feet. It isn’t a perfect rep because he ends up getting his feet too narrow, but not before he drove his guy back a couple yards and created a seam for Najee Harris to gain seven yards.
This formation was a wrinkle that the Steelers used a few times throughout the game, which included Jones aligned as a tackle eligible to the left of Dan Moore Jr. with Spencer Anderson filling in at right tackle. This play gets me pumped up for Jones, as he locked onto the defender and drove him back about five yards. The best part is that he played all the way to — or even through — the whistle.
On this final play, Jones chips the defensive tackle to widen the hole before turning back to pick up future Hall of Fame ILB Bobby Wagner to allow Jaylen Warren to convert an easy first down.
Some of the nastiness that we all expected from Jones this season is finally starting to show itself. That could potentially mean great things for the Steelers’ offense as they round into the final stretch of the regular season schedule.
