📄: First Round: Broderick Jones | 📺: Khan/Tomlin on Jones | 📸: Broderick Jones in pictures | 📃: How Jones fits with the Steelers | 📺: Jones' combine workout | 📃 What to like about Jones | 📺: The pick is in ... Broderick Jones | 📺: Pick Announcement | 📺: College Highlights | 👕 Order Broderick Jones jersey
FIRST ROUND
Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia
WHERE HE'S FROM: Jones, who turns 22 on May 16, is a native of Lithonia, Ga. (a suburb of Atlanta). He played basketball as well as football growing up and was described by draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic as "a basketball athlete with above-average movement skills." Jones, according to Brugler, was the No. 2 offensive tackle in the 2020 recruiting class (behind Paris Johnson Jr.) and the No. 3 recruit in Georgia (behind Myles Murphy but ahead of Will Anderson Jr.).
WHAT HE'S DONE: Jones started 15 games at left tackle for Georgia in 2022 as the Bulldogs marched to their second consecutive national championship. He started 19 of 32 career games played for Georgia. Jones redshirted in 2020 then earned Freshman All-SEC honors in 2021, when he filled in for starter Jamaree Salyer in four games. Jones wound up playing most of the 2021 National Championship Game at left tackle. His basketball athleticism was apparent at the NFL Scouting Combine, where Jones ran a 4.97-second 40-yard dash and registered a vertical leap of 30" and a broad jump of 9'0."
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Once he gets his hands on you he can turn you and torque you with his upper body. Once it's like a wrestling match up top you're not getting away from him." _ NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
"Overall, Jones lacks ideal refinement and experience (fewest number of college snaps among FBS offensive tackles available in this class) but with his movement skills, raw power and finishing violence, the necessary tools are there for him to be a decade-long starter in the NFL." _ Brugler.
