Player: OT Broderick Jones
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Broderick Jones’ debut as the Steelers’ starting left tackle did not go well at all, giving up three sacks. Unless he improves drastically over the course of the season, the Steelers have a big problem on the horizon. Their first-round pick in 2023, he is a player they earmarked as a foundational piece, but he doesn’t look it.
One game is not enough upon which to draw conclusions, but preliminary results find Broderick Jones wanting as the Steelers’ left tackle. Moving there after two seasons on the right side, he played a role in three sacks on Sunday. Talent has never been his issue, but against the Jets’ defensive front, he displayed poor technique.
Although the Steelers still managed to put up 34 points, the offensive line could be an issue. Jones was the biggest problem, without question, but the entire unit needs to improve for this offense to function properly. Unsurprisingly, Jones is earning a lot of negative attention following his season debut.
Broderick Jones primarily played left tackle throughout his career before the Steelers drafted him. Though they took him to play left tackle, he couldn’t unseat Dan Moore Jr. for two straight years. With Moore having left in free agency, they finally pulled the trigger.
And he looked the way he did early in training camp: uncomfortable, uncoordinated, and unable to rely on his fundamentals. Broderick Jones had a nice progression over the course of the summer but appeared to regress under live action in a game that counts against actual starters.
Is that simply a resetting of the adjustment period, or is this a sign of a deeper problem? The Steelers lack quality depth behind Jones, with Calvin Anderson the top option. Simply because of that, he’ll likely have a fairly long leash. Then again, they were prepared to pull the plug on him last year before Troy Fautanu’s season-ending knee injury. But Fautanu isn’t Calvin Anderson, either.
With regular season on the way and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing. What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
