The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-3 on the season despite having a negative point differential, and being out-gained by every team on their schedule so far this year. It only gets more difficult from here, as the Steelers have the ninth-toughest remaining schedule in the NFL.
Pittsburgh's offense under OC Matt Canada was tough to watch through the first nine weeks of the season. So, what changed? Mike Tomlin finally opted to start Broderick Jones, the team's first-round pick out of Georgia.
Jones has delivered in every chance he's received, including a game at left tackle thanks to an injury sustained by Dan Moore Jr. When Moore returned, Jones was moved to right tackle in his first official start.
Since then, Pittsburgh's offense has looked halfway decent for a change, especially in the run game. Yes, Kenny Pickett still has some strides to make, but that isn't on Jones and the offensive line, which as a unit have provided the Pitt product with time to throw. On Sunday, the Steelers rushed for over 200 yards in excellent efforts from the o-line, along with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
Broderick Jones has been great, but what took the Steelers so long to start him?
The Steelers and Mike Tomlin did not start Broderick Jones for a simple reason: they didn't believe he was ready. Jones has proven them wrong relatively early in his career, and is playing with confidence.
In fact, the only reason Jones finally got his chance is thanks to Chuks Okorafor, who was benched for making an amusing comment about Canada's offense. Per Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports, Okorafor said "that the offense should simply kneel out the remainder of the clock rather than continuing to run plays."
As harsh as that may sound, Okorafor wasn't wrong, and if anything was only punished for saying the quiet part out loud. Now, Jones has taken his spot and ran with it.
