Ben Roethlisberger concerned about Steelers offensive line, calls Broderick Jones a 'turnstile'

The Pittsburgh Steelers got off to a 1-0 start to the 2025 season after picking up a 34-32 Week 1 road win over the New York Jets Sunday. It wasn’t all perfect, however, and former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came away concerned about the offensive line, more specifically, left tackle Broderick Jones.

Aaron Rodgers, making his team debut under center, was sacked four times. Three of those sacks were allowed by Jones, according to Pro Football Focus. From what Roethlisberger observed, Jones looked like a “turnstile” against the Jets.

“What’s going on, on the O-line has to be like pulling hair out because you’re running for 53 yards, and you’ve given up four sacks,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “And with all due respect, Broderick Jones looks like a turnstile. I mean, it was bad. I don’t know how many of the sacks were on him, but it felt like there was a lot of pressure coming from that left side.”

Jones was ineffective as a pass blocker, and a run blocker. PFF gave him an overall grade of 54.5, 50th among 65 offensive tackles in Week 1. Beyond the sacks allowed, Pittsburgh’s offensive line struggled to create holes for the ground game. The Steelers rushed for just 53 yards on 20 carries.

The Steelers need Broderick Jones to be better

This is a big year for Jones. He was the Steelers’ 2023 first-round selection out of Georgia and to this point, he hasn’t proven to be a viable starting option. This year, he’s back at his natural left tackle spot after starting 16 games at right tackle last season.

The spotlight is on Jones to perform and help keep the 41-year-old Rodgers upright — he did not do that Sunday. Head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that Jones needs to play better.

“It could be better, but certainly all of our performances could be better,” Tomlin said. “As I mentioned, our quarterback got hit too much, and he was a component of that.”

Tomlin isn’t worried about Jones losing confidence: “I do not… because it’s football. You don’t get to the National Football League by being fragile emotionally. There’s a lot of confident guys that I work with. You win some battles, you lose some battles. You come back fighting. That’s just the nature of the men that play this game at this level.”