Acquiring talent is just one half of the equation in building a successful team. The NFL Draft is the main way to do that, but even the most talented of young players need the right situation to thrive and reach their full potential. Through two years of Broderick Jones’ career, a strong argument can be made that the Steelers have not given him that.
One former NFL player would take it a step further and say the Steelers have actively been hindering his progress.
“The Steelers did a disservice to Broderick Jones a lot of these years by flip-flopping him back and forth,” former NFL DL Leger Douzable said via [NFL on CBS’s YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=XLdmkRIkCCI&ab_channel=NFLonCBS). “From what I’ve been hearing they are going to leave him at left tackle, which to me, I think is his best position.”
For the first time in Jones’ career, he had a full offseason to prepare knowing where he was going to be playing. In his rookie season he was drafted to play left tackle but didn’t crack the starting lineup Week 1. He eventually replaced Chuks Okorafor when he was benched in the middle of the season, but that was at right tackle. He prepared on both sides for 2024 and ended up playing right tackle again as Dan Moore Jr. held onto the left tackle job.
Jones now enters a critical year. If he doesn’t progress, the Steelers won’t want to pick up his fifth-year option and there is a very good chance he could be gone following the 2026 season in free agency.
He was a good sport about preparing on both sides, but recently [admitted it was a little “funky”](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/06/broderick-jones-says-steelers-tried-to-make-me-the-swing-tackle-in-2024-it-was-kind-of-funky/) for him as he feels most at home on the left. Some players are capable of switching sides more than others, but it’s easier for guards than it is for tackles. There is a lot more space to cover and the mirrored footwork and punch with the outside arm can feel foreign. Those things need to become muscle memory so he can focus on other more important things.
Now with more college and professional games played on the right, the Steelers risk another rocky transition back to the other side. Even if it’s where he prefers to play, there might be growing pains once again.
Beyond the impact to Jones, flipping sides has an impact on the entire offensive line. The guards that play next to him suffer as a result of the instability. Mason McCormick will now have to get used to a new face on the right and so will Isaac Seumalo on the left.
“But the impact that it has on the guards, you’re playing with different types of combinations every week,” former NFL OG Kyle Long said. “I used to hate it when we would flop tackles because tackles are the guys that you’re like, okay those are the tackles. They’re set.”
The offensive line is at its best when they can work as one unit. Knowing how players like to combo block together, or how fast they are out of their stance can cause issues if the players aren’t in sync.
Hopefully 2025 is the beginning of righting the wrongs that have been done to Broderick Jones and this offensive line in general. They’re going to need it to protect 41-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers.