I wrote on Saturday afternoon about the importance of Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu succeeding this season as two recent first-round draft picks. Protecting 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers is critical to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ chances, and they can’t have a repeat of 2024, where Jones and Dan Moore Jr. combined to allow the most sacks by a tackle tandem in the NFL.
The young tackle tandem’s first test was on Saturday evening, and it was a successful outing for both of them, as they worked mostly against the Jacksonville Jaguars’ formidable duo of edge rushers.
Out of the 15 snaps they played, neither Jones nor Fautanu was clearly beaten on any play. And the offense managed an opening-drive touchdown against the Jaguars’ starters, with many of the Steelers’ starters sitting out.
On the 19-yard completion to Roman Wilson, Fautanu had a hand in blocking two defenders. He used his outside arm to monitor the end man on the line to help Darnell Washington get a proper angle while keeping his eyes on the linebacker coming downhill. He flawlessly transitioned his punch to the linebacker and gave up almost no ground.
Broderick Jones swatted down Joshua Hines-Allen’s initial punch and pushed him up the arc. He could have held the block a bit longer, but disrupted the easiest path to the quarterback, and Rudolph’s dropback after the play action was in the opposite direction.
This play was textbook work by Fautanu and Jones, almost in perfect unison. Hines-Allen swatted down Jones’ initial punch, but he had perfect punch placement with his inside arm to recover and get back in front of the rush. Fautanu landed his punch in the same spot on the other side and then used his outside arm to keep Travon Walker squared up to him.
We saw some of this from Fautanu last season and throughout his college tape, but he made good use of a snatch-and-trap move to neutralize Walker’s long arm.
It wasn’t all perfect for Jones, and some of his previous issues from last year appeared in this game. He never threw his punch and gave up his chest on the Darnell Washington touchdown play. To be fair to him, Hines-Allen could have been called for hands to the face, but Jones’ anchor fell apart because he never even attempted a punch.
The 10-yard sack allowed on Rudolph had more to do with him holding onto the ball too long. He held the ball for a little over six seconds. That said, Jones could have bought him more time if he had stuck with the block a little longer. It looks like he was worried about someone twisting outside. And Fautanu showed a strong anchor to hold up for that long.
Kaleb Johnson could have prevented the sack by peeling out for a checkdown pass.
As for run blocking, Jones and Fautanu had nothing to do with the team’s struggles in this area. They both did a fine job of executing their assignments.
On this play, Jones gets through to the second level and knocks the inside linebacker out of the play.
Here, Fautanu widened the hole with a down block and then turned to kick the linebacker out of the hole. It bought Kaleb Johnson an extra yard or two on the run for a gain of four.
Neither player was given a particularly strong grade by Pro Football Focus, but I think Fautanu mainly was dinged for a soft hands to the face penalty. If they could play at or above the level they put on tape for these 15 plays, the Steelers’ tackle situation would be significantly better than last season.
Besides one or two flashes of last year’s issues from Jones, he looked more comfortable on the left side in a small sample size. He was initiating contact and landing his punches with precision and timing. And nobody crossed his face, which has been an issue for him in the past.
Jones and Fautanu’s early work offers real hope for the Steelers’ tackle situation after a rough 2024. While there were a few flashes of last year’s issues, the pair mostly showed solid technique and an ability to handle high-level edge rushers. The key now will be consistency. If they can keep it up and continually improve, the sky is the limit for the 2025 offense.
