Apr 28, 2023 5 min read

The Steelers haven’t been a big trade-up team when it comes to the draft. They value their picks too much to make the moves necessary to trade them away – unless they feel there is a generational talent available.

In recent years, that’s been a move up in 2003 to get safety Troy Polamalu, a slight bump up to acquire wide receiver Santonio Holmes in 2006, and a move from 20 to 10 to acquire Devin Bush in 2019.

Well, as Meatloaf once crooned, two out of three ain’t bad.

The Bush debacle – and it only became so after he blew his knee out in his second season – didn’t scare the Steelers away from making a move up to get their man again in this weekend’s draft, as they bumped up from the 17th pick to 14 to select Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones.

And really, it was the perfect storm that made Jones available to them at that spot.

First, the Aaron Rodgers trade from the Green Bay Packers went through, with the New York Jets and Green Bay swapping first-round picks as part of that deal. That moved the tackle-needy Jets from the 13th pick in the draft down to 15.

Then, teams went quarterback crazy, with three of the first four picks coming at that position. And then things happened, such as the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions both taking running backs in the top half of the first round – something pundits say shouldn’t happen – and the Chicago Bears looking for a right tackle and selecting Tennessee’s Darnell Wright instead of Jones, who pretty much everyone had rated as a better overall prospect.

The Steelers, who had not selected an offensive tackle in the first round since taking Jamain Stephens in 1996 – talk about something to make you gun shy – decided to make their move.

And it didn’t hurt that with their trade, the Jets had moved behind the Patriots. And Patriots head coach Bill Belichick couldn’t wait to stick it to New York once again, knowing the Jets wanted an offensive tackle to protect Rodgers’ blind side.

So, the asking price of a fourth-round pick – the 120th selection in this draft – wasn’t exorbitant.

“I think everyone that was watching the draft would probably say there were several moves that were probably unexpected and surprises, and we see these moves pretty much at the same time everybody else does,” general manager Omar Khan said of his first NFL Draft. “It was an interesting time. We are just really excited we were able to move up and make that trade.”

What does it mean? Well, for starters, the Steelers will have an open competition at left tackle, where Dan Moore, a 2021 fourth-round pick, has surprisingly started 33 of the past 34 games.

The fact the Steelers moved up to get Jones, however, doesn’t mean he’ll automatically win the job. After all, he’s still only 21 years old and started just 19 games – all at left tackle – at Georgia.

“He’s a really good player right now. But the upside is tremendous,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s a Diaper Dandy. We’re excited about getting him in the fold and teaching him and letting him sort himself out. In terms of the division of labor and who is going to do what, those things will be decided in the team developmental process, but make no mistake, we are excited about having a young man of his talent.”

The Steelers have completely rebuilt their offensive line in a matter of two years. Is it the best offensive line in the NFL? No, not right now.

But they’ve got talent across the board and are at least league-average at every position. And in today’s NFL, if you’re average across the board on the line, then you’re pretty good.

They also have extreme depth there. If Jones winds up starting, the Steelers will have more than 100 career starts among the players on their bench. That’s unheard of in today’s NFL.

• With the trade of their fourth-round pick, the Steelers were left with only six selections in the remainder of the draft.

Moving back with another of their picks to acquire another selection was very interesting to the Steelers, especially in a draft as deep as this one.

There weren’t many players the Steelers would have considered trading up to acquire, but Jones was one of them.

• On the same day the Steelers made their first pick in this draft, the Pirates moved 10 games above .500 for the first time since the 2015 season.

And the way they’re doing it is interesting. They’re stealing a ton of bases. They’re playing good defense. And they’re getting more than solid starting pitching.

Nobody is having a ridiculous season at the plate, carrying the team to win after win, though Bryan Reynolds did that in the first week of the season.

This team might not be ready to win 90 games – or the 100-plus-win pace it’s currently on – but it’s also one that will easily surpass the 68½ wins the prognosticators set for their win total at the beginning of the season.

After Thursday’s win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pirates need only go 51-85 the rest of the way to beat that total.