**Will Broderick Jones come into his own at left tackle this season?**
Broderick Jones is finally where the Steelers drafted him to be, but will he finally play the way they drafted him to play? Going into his third season, he has a lot of ground to cover, especially given his fifth-year option coming up. While he seems to be doing the right things, we’re only in June, so a lot can change.
In a particularly top-heavy draft for tackles, the Steelers traded up in the first round for Broderick Jones in 2023. They saw him as a slight project, having had limited experience at the college level. But they eventually plugged him into the starting lineup—only at right tackle, not left.
While they may have intended to move him last offseason, circumstances dictated otherwise. Jones wound up sticking at right tackle all year, but not without the threat of a demotion. In Week 2, the Steelers started rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu over him. It may have stayed that way, except Fautanu suffered a season-ending injury just days later.
Although Broderick Jones struggled last season, he also played through injury. Now presumably healthy, heaving slimmed down, and finally playing where he is more comfortable, is this the year he looked like the Broderick Jones the Steelers thought they were drafting?
Jones only just turned 24 years old less than a month ago, so he is still plenty young. He has 27 starts under his belt, even if almost all of them came at right tackle. But this year, he has a full offseason to prepare—both physically and mentally—for one role. He knows he is starting, and he knows he is at left tackle.
That’s a pretty big change of pace from his first two seasons, previously facing perpetual uncertainty over either where or even when he would play. But with Broderick Jones all but official as the starting left tackle, the only thing left is the work.
_The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein._
_Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is_ [_the quarterback question_](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/04/schrager-thinks-steelers-passing-on-qb-in-1st-round-means-theyre-all-in-on-aaron-rodgers/)_. While they ultimately traded George Pickens, they have other decisions to make. The_ [_2025 NFL Draft class_](https://www.steelers.com/draft/) _is now behind us, so most of the roster construction is complete._
_But we still have a long offseason ahead for Steelers football, or football in shorts. Certain will-he-or-won’t-he situations remain in play, which we continue to monitor. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go._