Steelers LT Broderick Jones Won’t Start Camp With First Team

UNITY TWP., Pa — The Steelers will have a starting left tackle for Thursday. Their first string left tackle will not be talented rookie Broderick Jones, but rather, it will be incumbent starter Dan Moore Jr. That was the way it was the entirety of the spring, and it appears it will be kept the same way to start training camp.

The team has noted that Jones needs to prove he is ready to start rather than being handed the job. That makes sense from an overall perspective. Of course, Moore has improved over his years as a starter as well. It will take Jones being polished enough with his athletic upside to knock Jones off the pedestal.

“I haven’t even thought about it but I assume so, yes,” Tomlin said.

Even still, Jones seems like he will inevitably start this season at some point. It might not be Week 1, but Jones is a solid bet to start at some point in the 2023 NFL season, maybe even a bit later in the year. He could experience some early struggles like most rookie tackles. That’s just the road the NFL takes with most offensive linemen, though. Jones should be expected to be a cornerstone for the Steelers for the future.

Offensive line coach Pat Meyer is drilling Jones with all the intricate techniques he will have to use. Jones will play sooner rather than later with the draft capital used to acquire him in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, it seems that the mentality that Jones has is what really sticks out to Meyer and could make him playable early. The physical tools are there, but now they need to be sharpened.

“He’s talented, he’s young, he’s athletic, he’s got all the tools,” Meyer said. “The thing is he wants to be great, so he stays with that, and he wants to be great, and he has that attitude to do that. And when the time’s ready for him, he’s going to be in there.”

Meyer said that the team will know instinctively when Jones is ready and taking on bigger challenges with more ease. But for now, he will have to go out there and prove he deserves to start over Dan Moore.