The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Broderick Jones to play left tackle, but their need ended up being on the right side for his first two seasons. Other than one game at left tackle in his rookie season, Jones has played exclusively on the right side. That is finally set to change in 2025.
Jones has had his share of struggles over his first two seasons, but his confidence remains high, in part because of the move back to the left.
“Confidence is always high,” Jones told the media Wednesday after an OTA session via a video on Steelers.com. “Being back on the left, I feel like it’s a bigger boost for me just because I’ve been used to playing on the left side.”
While Jones entered the league as a left tackle, his total experience on the right now eclipses his left tackle experience in college. He is technically more seasoned on the right at this point, but that doesn’t mean his natural athletic ability is best suited there.
Nick Herbig called Jones a natural left tackle earlier today.
This time last year, with Fautanu in the mix, Jones told the media he was training and preparing on both sides.
While some players can flip back and forth with relative ease, there is a level of muscle memory and play recognition that isn’t easy to translate. Instead of striking with your left hand with the initial punch against edge rushers, you have to strike with the right. The kick and post legs are flipped, and of course remembering the play calls is backwards.
Based on his struggles, preparing for both jobs did Jones no favors in 2024. He talked about the adjustment moving back to the left.
“Biggest adjustment? Honestly, probably for me, it’s just flipping the plays in my head because some of our plays, they’re flip-flopped backwards so you hear ’em and they might be going one way, but it may be called the other way,” he said. “So just staying locked in with the plays and making sure you know ’em.”
Particularly at the beginning of last season, Jones had several physical technique issues that held him back. He cleaned those up throughout the season, but the mental side of the game continued to trip him up. That is notable given that he has to flip things in his head once again. It might be easy during practice, but the real test is when he is three quarters deep in a game and physically exhausted.
He would have primarily practiced against T.J. Watt when he played on the right side, so now he will get to go against different competition on the left.
“Being out here going against people like Alex [Highsmith] and Nick [Herbig] it really helps with the confidence level,” Jones said. “When you’re able to block guys like that, you feel like you can do it at any level versus anybody.”
There is no more important player on the Steelers’ offensive line in 2025 than Broderick Jones. Not only will he be protecting the blind side of whoever the quarterback may be, but he will be doing so for the first time in a few seasons. If he succeeds, he will likely have his fifth-year option picked up before next May. If he fails, his future and that of the Steelers’ offensive line will be in question.
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