Steelers Rookie Progress Report (+)

With the Pittsburgh Steelers on their bye, it feels appropriate to check in on their 2023 rookie class. After the conclusion of draft weekend, general manager Omar Khan received rave reviews for his first haul as the head man in charge. Some of them are receiving more playing time than others due to various different factors, but this group has already paid dividends early on. With five weeks in the books, we have a small sample size from these players to analyze what they’ve been able to accomplish so far and what the future potentially holds for them down the line.

Broderick Jones

In his first order of business on draft weekend, Khan moved up in the first round to select his franchise left tackle Broderick Jones. Despite not being handed the job immediately, Pittsburgh played it smart by giving him a heavy workload through the preseason. In week four against the Texans, Jones was abruptly thrust into action due to injury, and the results were a bit of a mixed bag as you’d reasonably expect. However, in his first career start on Sunday, Jones was outstanding and played well above expectations by allowing just one pressure in pass pro and delivering a couple of eye-popping run blocks. It was only a matter of time before he was Kenny Pickett’s blindside protector, but the Steelers would be wise to set that plan into motion immediately and allow him to continue learning on the job.