Just when it looked like we had a reason to feel confident in Broderick Jones, the 2023 first-round pick put fear into the hearts of Pittsburgh Steelers fans all over again. By nearly all reports, Jones had a strong finish to Steelers training camp. This was accompanied by an impressive showing against Josh Hines-Allen in the preseason opener against the Jaguars.
But just like that, we're back to be extremely concerned about the offensive tackle.
In his second preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jones showcased too many ugly moments. He allowed his defender to disengage from his block too easily at times. On two reps in particular, Jones lunged forward and whiffed on his assignment.
On ten offensive snaps, Jones can't afford to have three questionable reps. That's a bad ratio. This inconsistency led to negatively graded plays by Pro Football Focus. In the game, Jones earned a dismal 45.4 overall grade from PFF.
This isn't the jump we were hoping to see from Jones in his second preseason game at left tackle. Fans were optimistic that the former 14th overall pick would build on his strong 2025 exhibition debut, but that wasn't the case.
Now, fans officially have a right to be nervous about Broderick Jones.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans have a right to be nervous about Broderick Jones entering the 2025 season
Despite the position change back to left tackle, we are now in year three of seeing Jones on the NFL stage, and it's time we start seeing some results. Broderick's performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a big step in the wrong direction, as he consitencies once again shown this quality through reps.
As a starting offensive tackle and blindside protector, the Steelers simply can't have this. Jones must be more consistent on a snap-to-snap basis. Following his impressive game against the Jaguars, Jones reverted to the sloppy technique (lunging with his weight over his hips and sloppy footwork) that got him in trouble at times in his first two seasons.
There's still hope for Jones to turn things around. It's only the preseason, and if he had played a full game, perhaps he would have gotten more comfortable as the contest went on. However, the ugly reps need to go away.
Jones is expected to get some work in the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, and fans need to see better results. So much is riding on the young Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle in 2025, and Jones needs to be more consistent... but hope is fading fast.