Player: T Broderick Jones
Stock prices: Falling
reason: Either way, things aren’t looking good for Broderick Jones right now. The 14th overall pick in 2023 may be competing for a starting spot right now. He’s also been plagued by an elbow injury and has been shaky so far in the preseason. He may find himself on the bench for a while rather than moving to left tackle.
The Steelers were perhaps most pleased with Broderick Jones this season on the offensive line. He was poised to become a star and was able to take over the right tackle role as a rookie. When he broke into the starting lineup, many credited it as a turning point for the offense.
Jones has been getting a lot of attention lately, and not in a good way. Steelers quarterbacks have been reflecting on who was to blame for allowing recent sacks and pressures. Too often, the blame has been placed on Jones, who hasn’t been his usual self through the first two preseason games.
Broderick Jones is a big, athletic, imposing player, but he doesn’t look like it right now, and the player the Steelers traded for last year up to 14th in the first round of the draft is now having the Steelers consider all of their options at the starting tackle position, and he might not be one of them.
The Steelers were willing to move Jones, but they still have Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle, while first-round draft pick Troy Fautanu looks ready to go in the eyes of the team and could be an immediate starter once he recovers from a knee injury.
If Fautanu is healthy for the season opener, Jones may be the backup swing tackle, unless Jones improves and returns to his old self in the Steelers’ final preseason game tomorrow. Jones is young, but he’s one of the leaders of this offensive line and knows it’s his role to set the tone. But if Jones struggles like he has recently, the Steelers can’t afford to use him. And if Jones is struggling with an injury, that’s not good either, because he won’t recover while he’s playing.
As the season progresses Steelers players’ stocks go up and downThe nature of the evaluations varies by time of year, with in-season considerations often being short-term in nature. Off-season considerations often have broader ramifications, especially when players lose their jobs or teams sign players. Lots of dealsIt doesn’t matter if it’s minor or major.
A number of things affect a player’s value – a bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion – so many different things. Think of it as a stock in a market based on speculation. After a good game the player’s value goes up, after a bad game the player’s value goes down. Some stock price fluctuations are minor, while others can be quite dramatic, so keep the magnitude in mind. In the reasons section of each column we will try to explain the nature of it in as much detail as possible.
