For the first time in his career, even dating back to college, Pittsburgh Steelers fourth-year offensive tackle Broderick Jones finds himself playing for an offensive-minded head coach.
Jones played for Kirby Smart at Georgia and then spent his first three NFL seasons under Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. The emphasis was always on defense. That’s now changed with Mike McCarthy succeeding Tomlin.
And with that change comes a subtle adjustment that Jones has to make within McCarthy’s offensive scheme. It’s not a major one, but it’s certainly challenging.
“I would say just like the small details. Like, Coach McCarthy’s big on putting your hand down in the ground if it’s first in 10,” Jones said of the biggest change under McCarthy, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “I’ve always been out of like a two point, so putting my hand in the dirt, playing out of a three is a little bit different for me.
“But it’s something to learn from.”
Going from playing primarily out of a two-point stance, to putting more of an emphasis on having a hand in the dirt and really attacking out of a three-point stance is an adjustment for any offensive lineman, but especially Jones. The former first-round pick is still working his way back from spinal-fusion surgery and is trying to add weight to get back up to a comfortable playing form.
So, putting a hand in the dirt and attacking in the run game, rather than largely playing in a two-point puts a greater emphasis on pad level and leg drive. With that emphasis comes an adjustment. But Jones is loving it.
It brings the physicality and the nastiness back to the offensive linemen, allowing them to really get after defenders firing off the ball. Pittsburgh wants to be a hard-nosed, physical team, and it starts with the run game under McCarthy.
That’s not to say the Steelers will have their linemen in a three-point stance on every rep, but it’s a subtle change that will create an impact.
In the Steelers’ three preseason games though, it was hard to see that impact the change brought, particularly with Jones. He played 140 snaps in the preseason, according to Pro Football Focus, and graded out at a 61.0 overall. That included a 57.6 in the run game, which was lower than his 59.9 grade as a pass blocker.
The early returns weren’t encouraging, but it takes some time.