I do my best not to discuss players once they’ve moved on from the Pittsburgh Steelers but in light of Broderick Jones’ comments, I’m making a bit of an exception. Upon his arrival in Dallas yesterday, the former Steelers’ first round draft pick was honest if nothing else when asked about his time in the Steel City. More specifically, Jones was asked about the switching back-and-forth between right and left tackle.
“For me, I would just say bouncing around (positions), just not being able to get my feet set. That was a challenge for me,” Jones said via The Athletic. “Coming in, hopefully I can stick to one side. Compete for that (job), get comfortable, get familiar with it, get familiar with who I’ll be playing next to and go from there.”
For whatever reason it appears we have people taking sides. One group believes that Jones is 100% right. The team’s inability to let him get settled at one spot or another is what troubled him so much. The other group blames Jones. They cite his inability to adapt, lack of mental toughness and even spending too much time at the local casino.
Why can’t it be a combination of both?
What’s wrong with saying that Jones was wronged by the Steelers and also admitting that maybe he wasn’t mature enough for it? The answer is “nothing.” There is nothing wrong at all in stating that both Jones and Mike Tomlin’s Steelers handled things poorly. I honestly wish that life was truly black and white and that there was no gray area. The truth is different than that however. The ‘gray area’ is far more part of our lives than people apparently want to admit.
By trading Jones away, the Steelers were admitting they got this pick wrong. They saw a guy – who despite less than 20 starts in college – had the ability and ceiling of a player worthy of a first round selection. It didn’t work out. Did they misunderstand his maturity? Did they lack feel he would be more committed or would would grasp things quicker than he did? It’s honestly hard to say.
What isn’t difficult at all to say is that both need to be held accountable for where things are now. It doesn’t have to be all on Jones or all on the Steelers. It is absolutely a little bit of both.
