Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
These Steelers are poised for big games this weekend.
This week the Pittsburgh Steelers square off against the Green Bay Packers and despite the win last week, this feels like a team still searching for an identity and continues to shuffle the roster. After the drama of last week, we are ready to see the Steelers back on the field and playing better football. Here are four guys we can’t wait to see play this week.
We found out why Chuks Okorafor was benched and we can’t say we blame him.
When we first heard that Pittsburgh Steelers starting right tackle Chuks Okorafor was benched for something he said during the Steelers loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, we assumed it had to be pretty egregious. Now, according to Steelers beat writer Dejan Kovacevic, we know the reason and honestly, I applaud Okorafor for what he did.
According to Kovacevic, head coach Mike Tomlin overheard Okorafor on the sidelines in the final minutes of the Steelers loss to the Jaguars and said the offense might as well kneel if they are going to keep calling these plays. Maybe not the best plan for it to happen but Okorafor basically said what every fan has been screaming for two months. Don’t punish the man for being the voice of the people.
As much as we are excited to see Broderick Jones playing so well at tackle, we don’t like seeing Okorafor being punished for venting his frustration about this pitiful offense. Meanwhile, Tomlin is completely indifferent to the behavior of wide receiver George Pickens, probably because he doesn’t have a first-round pick waiting in the wings to replace him.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Georgia has one of the top centers in the 2024 NFL draft and Pittsburgh needs to pay attention.
Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to land former Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones. Jones’ talent stood out and his athleticism flashed on film. Just as much, the Bulldogs reputation for putting together dominant rushing attacks is just another star on the resume of any Georgia offensive lineman.
With that being said, the Steelers would be wise to look to Georgia again in 2024 as they continue to rebuild the offensive line.
Georgia has what we consider the second-best center prospect in the 2024 NFL draft in Sedrick Van Pran. Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson is our top interior offensive lineman and we will talk more about him this season.
But for now, we are talking about Sedrick Van Pran. Here is our quick breakdown of his strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths
Tremendous experience
One sack allowed in his first two seasons as a starter
High football acumen
Powerful run blocker, an excellent zone fit
Nasty attitude and plays with an edge
Weaknesses
Needs to work on his interior pass protection and play recognition
Not overly athletic and isn’t asked to pull
We currently have a late 2nd-round grade on Van Pran and if Powers-Johnson is off the board, would be a great second or third-round pick. He’s almost certainly an upgrade over Mason Cole who took a step back in 2023.
Now that we are in the second half of the season, look for more quick looks at some of the best prospects for Pittsburgh in the 2024 NFL draft.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
It sounds like Broderick Jones is starting again on Sunday.
No one is saying exactly what Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor said to get himself benched last week against the Tennessee Titans but he seems to think whatever it is it was bad enough that he expects to be benched again this week against the Green Bay Packers.
Okorafor spoke to the media on Wednesday and while he wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly he did wrong but he did begrudgingly say he expects this week to be the same as last week meaning rookie Broderick Jones gets another start.
Jones was great last Sunday in place of Okorafor. Despite being a natural left tackle, you would have never known it by the way he played on the right side. Jones’ combo of power and athleticism is something the Steelers haven’t had at tackle in a long time and his presence had a significant impact on how well the Steelers ran the football against the Titans.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
The Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart has an “or” between right tackles Broderick Jones and veteran Chuks Okorafor.
Offensive tackle Broderick Jones has played solidly in limited outings, two starts, for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he’s not ready to publicly crown him starter — or at least he won’t tip his hand to the Green Bay Packers.
But rest assured, Jones is starting.
“I thought he did some really good things,” Mike Tomlin said of Jones in his Tuesday press conference. “I thought we did some really good things, and so it’s probably worthy of extended look considering he did those things and we did those things on a short week. I’m not going all the way in, but we’ll probably take another look at him and see what it looks like this week.”
A depth chart available to Steelers media listed an “OR” between Jones and veteran Chuks Okorafor, whom Jones replaced in Pittsburgh’s win over Tennessee.
“It means exactly what it says: Or,” Tomlin said with a chuckle.
Jones potentially replacing Okorafor at right tackle could have more to do with Dan Moore than anything. “He is significantly better at left than he is at right.”
Broderick Jones listed a starting right tackle, Porter Jr. as right cornerback opposite of Patrick Peterson, unseating Levi Wallace. https://t.co/XueodtdMIp pic.twitter.com/hXB1JEPuq1
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 7, 2023
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Given how well Broderick Jones has played at both spots, would relegating him to reserves be the right move from Mike Tomlin?
14th overall draft pick Broderick Jones got just his second career start on Sunday in lieu of the benched right tackle Chuks Okorafor. His first start came versus the Baltimore Ravens on the left side for the injured Dan Moore. In Okorafor’s case, he was benched for something he said during the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Once Moore was healthy, Jones reverted to his backup role. If Okorafor’s benching was merely a one-time punishment, he could be back in the lineup for the Green Bay Packers matchup.
But given how well Jones has played at both spots, would relegating him to reserves be the right move?
Jones is in the dark about whether he’ll start this week but is playing it like it’s all good either way. “I’m just always ready when my name is called,” he told Steelers media after beating the Tennessee Titans. “The boss tell you to do something, you do it. If push come to shove, I have to come back to it and do it again. I’m looking forward to it.”
There’ll be some noise from the fanbase if Mike Tomlin keeps Jones out of the starting lineup. He helped the unit play at a higher level, given Pittsburgh had its best ground production all year and Kenny Pickett wasn’t sacked for the first time since 2022.
As he did with Joey Porter Jr. last week, Tomlin could very well name Jones the starter at his press conference today. It’s also possible he doesn’t tip his hand to Green Bay.
There’s a method to Tomlin’s madness. For as long as he’s head coach, what he says goes. Steelers fans just need to trust that he will make the right call. But if he doesn’t start Jones, he’ll be stunting the growth of his offensive line.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
The Steelers continue to move players around looking for an ideal combination.
Through eight games, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 5-3 despite being outgained in every game this season. Depending on how the weekend plays out, Pittsburgh could be back on top in the AFC North. Pittsburgh has been forced to shuffle the roster due to injuries and changes in play. Here are the four Steelers we expect to see more of in the second half of the season.
The Steelers got huge performances out of Joey Porter and Broderick Jones on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally got to see its top two picks from the 2023 NFL draft in the spotlight and both guys shined. Offensive tackle Broderick Jones got the start at right tackle and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. got not only the start but was paired up against Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for much of the game.
Jones was filling in for Chuks Okorafor who got himself benched for some comments made on the field in the previous week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jones got word on Tuesday he’d be starting and although his natural position is left tackle, looked great.
He’s not only a powerful run blocker and strong pass blocker, he has athleticism you don’t normally see in a Steelers offensive lineman. Pittsburgh had him pulling and working to the second level and his contributions helped the Steelers to their best rushing game of the season and the win.
Porter’s game got off to a rough start but he made a huge recovery. After a handful of slopping penalties in the first half, Porter put the clamps on Hopkins. Porter covered Hopkins on 26 of his 36 pass routes, playing press man on 20 of those. Hopkins finished the game with only one reception for 17 yards and only five total targets. This is after Hopkins caught three touchdowns the week before.
Pittsburgh is sitting at 5-3 right now and the play of these two talented rookies helped make that happen. We can’t wait to see more of these guys in the second half of the season.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Chuks Okorafor was not benched for poor play last week but instead for some things he said.
It came as a surprise on Thursday night when it came out that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie offensive tackle Broderick Jones was getting the start at right tackle over Chuks Okorafor. Okorafor hadn’t been on the injury report that week and his play hadn’t been any more of a concern than that of starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr.
So why the change?
Well, Okorafor told the media why it happened. Sort of. According to Okorafor, when he talked to the press after the game, he was healthy but got benched for some things he said during last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Okorafor didn’t expand on the context of his comments but said “The way the game was going last week, I kind of said stuff that I shouldn’t say. I just, being in Year 6, I can’t like act out the way I was acting out.”
We can read between the lines here and assume Okorafor was openly criticizing either teammates or coaches during the game about how poorly the offense was playing. While we wouldn’t disagree with Okorafor as last week’s offense was not great, we applaud head coach Mike Tomlin for trying to squash that sort of mutiny in a hurry.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
There is a report that Pittsburgh is making a change in the starting lineup versus the Titans.
According to the Pittsburgh Steelers fan account SteelerNation, there is a change coming to the Steelers starting lineup this week against the Tennessee Titans. They have reported that Pittsburgh is going to bench starting right tackle Chuks Okorafor and rookie Broderick Jones will start in his place.
Pittsburgh needs to find a way to spark the offense and Okorafor hasn’t played very well. But neither has starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. I suppose Pittsburgh felt like a change had to happen but in their view, Moore is a better option to keep in the starting lineup and adding Jones on the right could help with the run offense.
Sources tell us that Broderick Jones will start at RT tonight instead of Chuks…👀
— SteelerNation (@SteeIerNation) November 2, 2023
Jones played five snaps last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars as the team’s sixth offensive lineman in run-heavy sets and did a solid job. For the season Jones has played 126 total snaps, has had zero penalties and allowed no sacks.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
