Steelers Report Cards: Rookie Broderick Jones performing well

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Broderick Jones with the No. 14 overall pick to give him the chance to become the franchise offensive tackle.

However, Jones is off to a bit of a slow start to his NFL career, but that’s through no fault of his own. Jones has appeared in all eight of the Steelers’ games so far, but he’s only logged two starts.

Bleacher Report’s Ryan Fowler played the role of teacher and gave every first-round draft pick a report card through the first half of the season. He gave Jones a B+ for his efforts so far.

Drafted to protect Kenny Pickett’s blind side for years to come, the early portions of 2023 has seen Broderick Jones earn starts on the either side of the line of scrimmage.

Although the former Georgia Bulldog worked on the right side in practice when Chukwuma Okorafor remained in concussion protocol, his 1,358 snaps in school, in training camp and first four games as a pro came on the left side.

While he’s primarily worked as a backup with just two starts in nine weeks, he’s been excellent in the 190 snaps that he’s been on the football field. A talent whose elite athleticism and mirroring ability had evaluators drooling over the chance to draft him, the future looks bright for Jones in Pittsburgh. The only knock I have is the limited snap count considering his draft slot.

Jones has performed well, and his playing time will come. The Steelers can only hope that he’ll grow even more as opportunity knocks.

Jones and the Steelers are set to face off against the Green Bay Packers this weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET inside Acrisure Stadium.