Dawgs in the NFL: Broderick Jones, Kenny McIntosh make rookie camp debut
NFL rookie mini camps continued over the weekend with Broderick Jones and Kenny McIntosh making their professional football practice debut. Jones was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, No. 14 overall, while McIntosh was one of the last picks of the draft, going 237th overall to the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round.
At 6-foot-5, 310 pounds running a 4.97 40-yard dash, Jones is incredibly athletic. He’s got talent too as a former five-star-plus player coming out of high school. However, he’s considered to be a bit of a project when it comes to NFL offensive tackles.
“If you want the most athletic guy, it’s Broderick Jones from Georgia,” ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. said about Jones during the draft process. “He needs coaching. He’s kind of an offensive line coach’s dream … I think an offensive line coach is going to say, ‘Hey, I can fix things from a technical approach for the job at hand for an offensive tackle. I can make him a Pro Bowl tackle.’”
Jones started all 15 games for Georgia in 2022, making the transition from Jamaree Salyer to Jones at left tackle an issue put on the back burner for the Bulldogs. Jones also started four games in 2021 in place of an injured Salyer and played significant portions of both the Auburn game on the road and the National Championship at left tackle.
Now with the Steelers, he’s got a shot to have a similar sort of quick rise to starter’s status. However, he’s got his head in the right place and is focused on only himself.
“I have the mindset of coming in here and being ready to work,” Jones told members of the media after his first practice. “I’m not looking forward to winning the job right now or anything. My biggest focus is coming in and doing what I can do, learning the playbook and being the best version of me.”
McIntosh doesn’t have the same sort of easy path to playing time as Jones. While first rounders are picked with a plan in place, seventh rounders often have to fight just to make the roster come fall camp.
McIntosh told reporters after his first practice that it reminded him of practices at Georgia. Things came naturally, and should he be able to repeat what he did in Athens at the professional, he’ll have a chance to last a long time in the NFL.
“Competing with these guys, it really reminded me of Georgia,” McIntosh said. “I’m not going to lie to you. The way we practice at Georgia, we get after things. Kirby Smart really does his best to make things similar to the next level to get us better, so everything I did, it was a repeat. They were saying to the same things my coaches were saying at the college level. Coming out here, it was instinctual, a no-brainer.”
McIntosh earned his way onto the field by being the best option out of the backfield in the passing game. That was proven to be the case this past season when McIntosh led Georgia in rushing while also finishing top three in receiving behind only Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey. McIntosh ran it 150 times for 829 yards and 10 touchdowns. He added 43 catches for 504 more yards and another two scores, making him the top Bulldog in total yardage besides Stetson Bennett.
McIntosh twice set a career-high in rushing this past season. In what Kirby Smart described as a “pissed off” performance after a fumble, McIntosh ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns in Georgia’s win over his home-state team, Florida. Then, less than a month later, he had 143 yards on the road at Kentucky. McIntosh found the end zone at least once in nine of 15 games this past season after having that amount of touchdowns over the course of his entire career up to that point previously.
