Steelers trade up for Georgia's Broderick Jones in NFL Draft

When Mike Tomlin attended the Georgia pro day in 2022, he spent the previous night dining with some of the Bulldogs’ draft-eligible prospects, as is his custom when he hits the March scouting circuit.

Tomlin asked the assembled players for the name of a prospect that he might want to dine with in 2023.

That is how Tomlin became aware of Broderick Jones, the massive Georgia tackle that the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Thursday night with their first-round draft pick.

“Universally, Broderick’s name was the name was got,” Tomlin said. “That was the first time I really heard his name. In investigating it, I see why they held him in such high regard.”

In 2022, his lone full season as a starter at left tackle, Jones and his 6-foot-5, 311-pound frame developed into a first-round prospect. Trouble was, he developed so well the Steelers weren’t sure they would be able to select him.

All of that changed when general manager Omar Khan, overseeing his first draft, traded up three spots with the New England Patriots to select Jones with the No. 14 overall pick. Khan sent the Steelers’ No. 17 pick and a fourth-round selection (No. 120 overall) to jump ahead of the New York Jets and select Jones.

“Broderick was a player we identified as being a great addition to our team,” Khan said. “As we saw how the draft was going, we started making phone calls in an opportunity to trade up and get him. We’re really excited. I think he’s going to be a great Steeler for a long time.”

The Steelers can only hope Jones works out better than the previous tackle they selected in the first round. That was all the way back in 1996 when the Steelers, with Bill Cowher as coach and Tom Donahoe running the player personnel department, selected Jamain Stephens, who washed out after two years and 11 starts with the Steelers.

Jones, a redshirt sophomore with just 19 career college starts, turns 22 in May.

“He’s got big time upside,” Tomlin said. “I also say he’s a really good player right now.”

More on the draft

• Tim Benz: Broderick Jones is great for the Steelers. The trade to get him was even better
• Steelers NFL Draft bio in brief: Broderick Jones
• Who's left for Steelers? CB Joey Porter Jr. surprisingly goes undrafted in 1st round
• Pittsburgh Steelers 1st-round draft pick history
• If the on-the-clock Steelers traded the draft’s next pick, what could they get for it?

As a rookie, Jones will be expected to compete for a starting spot with two-year starter Dan Moore Jr at left tackle or incumbent right tackle Chuks Okorafor. Jones had limited experience at right tackle in games but said he rotated between positions every day in practice at Georgia.

He played in two games as a freshman reserve and then started the Bulldogs’ final four games at left tackle in 2021 before solidifying his role as a starter last fall.

The Steelers met with Jones at the NFL Combine and again at Georgia’s pro day. They also hosted him on an official top-30 visit April 15 at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

Still, Jones wasn’t sure where he might go in the first round.

“I wasn’t expecting anything,” he said. “I was waiting on my name to be called. The Steelers did what they could to get me. I’m happy with what happened.”

When Jones left the Steelers’ practice facility that day, he said he had a good feeling about the organization.

“I felt like I was at home,” Jones said. “It felt like I was at UGA It felt like the energy was there. Everything that was talked about was needed. … At end of the day, I was in love with the Steelers when I left and I became one.”

With prized cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Joey Porter Jr still on the board, the Steelers swung a trade to acquire a tackle to protect second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett’s blind side. At that point, three tackles already had been selected: Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr., Tennessee’s Darnell Wright and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon of Illinois was long gone after being selected No. 5 overall.

When Wright went to the Chicago Bears at No. 10, and the Tennessee Titans followed by picking Skoronski, that left Jones as the only remaining viable tackle option with a high first-round grade.

It was just a matter of whether the Steelers could swing a deal to get him.

More sports

• In 1 inning, the Pirates exemplified what MLB is going for with its new rules
• Pirates are hot, and so is their merchandise

“You make phone calls and get feeling what people want to do,” Khan said. “Some people are no, some are maybe. You stay close to the phone and stay in contact with clubs that might be interested.”

The cost to swap spots with the Patriots was modest, too.

“We had a high level of preparedness going in,” Tomlin said. “We weren’t ready to mortgage more than anything above a third-day pick.”

Jones was impressed the Steelers were willing to move up to acquire him.

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “I can’t wait to get to Pittsburgh and start the journey. It’s a whole new journey. I can’t wait to start the process.”