Jones shined early against Bills but looked sloppy late
by Bo Marchionte
Published August 21, 2023, 09:37 AM
Pittsburgh, PA – The Steelers first-round pick Broderick Jones hasn’t cemented himself as the starting left tackle or right tackle at this point of his rookie season, but gradually he is becoming more acclimated to the speed and nuances of playing in the National Football League.
“I feel like the game was solid,” Jones said after the Steeler 27-15 win over the Buffalo Bills. “Both weeks just to play at the next level is amazing. So, just trying to take every rep as seriously as possible to better myself. Even though it’s the preseason for me it’s still like a real game and I try to treat it as such.”
Against the Bills, his second preseason game, Jones accounted for 44 snaps (according to my math) at left tackle after starter Dan Moore Jr. was rested midway through the first quarter. In early parts of the game against a perceived higher class of defenders, Jones looked like the part of a first-round pick in a good way.
According to PFF, Jones had 933 total offensive snaps at Georgie during his final season with the Bulldogs. Within the framework of 470 pass block snaps, he allowed zero sacks, two hits and seven hurries to go along with 463 run block snaps.
Jones wasn’t playing alongside the team’s first offensive line unit, but that didn’t regulate the hostile competition the rookie faced from the Bills. The first player he had to defend was a former first round pick and ninth overall from the 2016 NFL Draft in edge rushing extraordinaire Leonard Floyd, who has recorded 39 sacks over his last three NFL seasons.
For a rookie, Jones played with adequate pad level and foot quickness to stymie Floyd at the point of attack. A solid couple reps against one of the league’s premier pass rushers, who are likely eager to exploit a youngster like Jones and give him a proper welcome to the NFL.
“I’m just trying to get a feel for everything for the most part,” Jones said. “That’s all it really is. Being able to feel out who you’re playing against and what their tendencies are. Just play to the best of your ability at the end of the day.”
After some work against the likes of Floyd, Jones had faced off against safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde on different occasions. Rewatching Jones’ specific snaps early in the game he seldom got off balance, reset quickly and provided a stonewall backside for Mitchell Trubisky.
As the game wore on it appeared that Jones wore down.
In my opinion, Jones stamina aided in souring a solid outing throughout his first couple of dozen snaps. In the later stages of the game, it looked like Jones’ endurance wasn’t up to snuff. The solid reps he was stacking early in the game looked to be compromised with a sluggish residue.
Jones might strongly disagree, the coaches breaking down game tape may bring up assignments made or missed that contradict my observations. In a nutshell, his play was simply better at the beginning than the end.
In the third quarter Bills defensive end Kingsley Jonathan got the jump on Jones, tied up his feet and excelled past him to sack Mason Rudolph. He had 470 snaps in his final year of college without allowing a sack and 26 snaps into his second preseason game he commits the dirty deed of allowing his quarterback to hit the ground.
The Bills rushed four and collectively on this play and collapsed the pocket entirely while simultaneously Jones’ man was around the edge on his way to sacking Rudolph. If it wasn’t Jonathan on the sack, it might have been Steelers center Kendrick Green being the first to hit Rudolph after being bull rushed backwards. Jones man did get the sack, but Rudolph fate was sealed by any of the four Bills pass rushers on the play.
On a botched shotgun snap to Rudolph in the third quarter, Jonathan was three yards deep on Jones before he realized the situation. That obviously could lead to the cadence and possible confusion of snap count that led to the delayed reaction. Jonathan was diving for the football simultaneously with Rudolph in hopes of recovering the fumble.
In the fourth quarter, Jones did play to whistle and then some. A personal trait I love to see in an offensive lineman where they are driving their man as far from the play as possible. It’s not a necessity but surely something pleasing to the eye when they perform such acts of domination.
“There are always things to work on and things you can improve on,” Jones said. “It’s just time to get back in the lab and just continue to correct those little mistakes.”
Jones handled himself nicely against some quality opponents. He faced Lawson the most, Floyd a few times, second-round pick A.J. Epenesa and the two safeties in Poyer and Hyde. Not exactly chump change for a rookie to restrain. The endurance and speed of getting to the second level is something that should come with time.
“I like to have the most reps,” Jones said. “A rookie coming in always must prove themselves and I feel the more reps I get the better I’ll have a chance to do that.”
In a prize fight setting, Jones was winning the rounds but as the fight entered the later rounds, the tides were changing. The reps decreased the rookie’s ability to dominate. In the early stage he was in a groove and later in the game a sluggish out or sorts of player was emerging.
Pittsburgh moved up from 17 to 14 in the 2023 NFL Draft to select Jones in a trade with the New England Patriots. In a perfect world he would have stepped in immediately and captured the starting gig at left tackle. Absent of an injury by starter Moore Jr. who remain the team’s No. 1 option to protect Kenny Pickett’s backside.
Jones has put it on tape he can duplicate the dominance that led him to being the 14th pick of the draft. Capturing that consistency is the fast track to finding himself running with the starters. The encouraging outlook of Jones overall is he has shown the ability deserving of the 14th overall pick.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
