After Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan addressed media members at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, most of the headlines were centered on what he said about the team’s plans at quarterback.
Naturally.
Why should this year be any different than the previous four in the wake of Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement? Until the franchise finds its long-term answer at the position, that will always be the biggest talking point surrounding the club.
Seeing as how they went 21 years between Terry Bradshaw’s retirement and drafting Roethlisberger, they might have well over a decade to go before discovering that answer.
Lost, though, in a torrent of stories about Khan’s effusive praise of Will Howard and his open-ended responses to a potential return for Aaron Rodgers, were his alarming comments about left tackle Broderick Jones.
The former first-round draft choice is about to begin the fourth year of his entry-level contract. His third year ended Nov. 29 against the Chicago Bears when he suffered a neck injury. Khan was asked if Jones would be ready to participate when training camp rolls around in July.
The word “yes” was nowhere to be found in his response.
“Obviously, he had a significant injury, and we’re monitoring how he progresses,” Khan replied. “I know he’s working hard, and it’s still early in the process. That’s certainly something that we’re monitoring.”
Even if Khan didn’t want to give a direct answer to the question, if he was remotely confident that Jones could be ready to play by training camp, the GM could’ve made the situation sound less doubtful than that.
My first thought when I heard that response from Khan is that left tackle needs to be in play via free agency or high in the draft for the Steelers.
To be fair, it’s not like Jones was locked in to be the starter for 2026 anyway. If he came back healthy, it might have been him. Or it might have been Dylan Cook. The 2022 undrafted prospect out of Montana was better in the six regular season/postseason games he played at left tackle than Jones was before he got injured.
It’s quite possible that, even if Jones comes back healthy, he won’t regain the starting job. Furthermore, it’d be stunning if the Steelers grant him a fifth-year option. Given the injury and his inconsistent play, it’d be foolish to do that.
So, unless the Steelers are sold on Cook (who was a quarterback prior to his 2019 transfer to Montana), they might be back on the offensive tackle market, even though two of their last three drafts saw the OT position addressed in the first round via Jones in 2023, and Troy Fautanu in 2024.
Even if Cook is good enough to become the starter, there is no other tackle on the team with much experience to fill in for him if Jones’ recovery lingers into the season. Swing lineman Spencer Anderson may be capable. But he might also be in line to replace free-agent left guard Isaac Seumalo.
Anderson is a versatile guy. But he can’t be the left tackle, left guard and third offensive lineman all at once. He can only be one body at a time.
I’m not all that inclined to go the free-agent route at tackle. Unless (via estimates from “The Athletic”) $20.5 million per year for Rasheed Walker (Green Bay), $21 million/year for Jermaine Eluemunor (New York Giants) or $17.8 million/year for Braden Smith (Indianapolis Colts) knocks off your socks.
None of those options do that for me.
The draft could be a different story. The “just draft the best wide receiver available” theory is great. I subscribe to it, unless there is a big run on wide receivers in the first 20 picks and there are only second-day talents available at the point the Steelers get on the clock at No. 21.
Should that potential occur, drafting a guard who is tackle capable — or a tackle who could start out as guard and kick back outside if Cook falters — might make sense.
If not in the first round, then the second.
According to ESPN.com, there are 10 players who are either tackles or guards that project into the first two rounds (top 64) of the NFL draft. They’ve got six tackles ranked in their top 32.
• No. 7 Utah’s Spencer Fano (6-foot-6, 302 pounds)
• No. 8 Miami’s Francis Mauigoa (6-6, 315)
• No. 16 Utah’s Caleb Lumo (6-6, 304)
• No. 29 Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor (6-6, 330)
• No. 30 Georgia’s Monroe Freeling (6-7, 315)
• No. 31 Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor (6-7, 366)
The outlet has one first-round guard, Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane (6-4, 330). Pass blocking is his strength, and he’d probably be higher on the board if guard was a higher-valued position.
Penn State LG Olaivavega Ioane had a strong outing vs. Oregon and appears to get better and better with every game.
More on Ioane and five other newcomers to my top-50 draft rankings: https://t.co/bcsAlTFBWXpic.twitter.com/SHrLM5AciV
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) October 3, 2025
This potential pick has some Dave DeCastro, Alan Faneca vibes to it. If not in terms of All-Pro production, at least in terms of value sliding down the board based on the perception of the position.
No, drafting an offensive lineman in the first-round isn’t going to wow the draft-night crowd here in Pittsburgh. But if they don’t go with a quarterback, and the first-round wide receivers are all gone, really, what will?
Jones’ injury status, coupled with Seumalo’s potential departure and Cook’s relative inexperience, may make such a selection very pragmatic.
LISTEN: Chris Adamski joins Tim Benz from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.