Steelers Now
Broderick Jones’ neck injury has made things a little murky for the Pittsburgh Steelers, hasn’t it?
The former first-round draft pick moved back to left tackle last season, but only played in 11 games before suffering the injury during the team’s road loss to the Chicago Bears. With his future cloudy, Mike McCarthy’s team has some rearranging to do.
This offseason, the Steelers have flipped Troy Fautanu from his right tackle spot and put Dylan Cook, who emerged as a viable choice late last campaign, where Fautanu vacated. This year’s first-round selection, Max Iheanachor, could earn a large role with an impressive training camp showing, too.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton believes the Steelers should expand their options even further by sending the Jacksonville Jaguars a mid-round pick in next year’s draft to add left tackle Walker Little.
“The Steelers have options at left tackle while Broderick Jones recovers from a neck injury,” Moton wrote Tuesday. “They can slide right tackle Troy Fautanu to the left side, as the team did during the spring, or attempt to fast-track rookie first-rounder Max Iheanachor’s ascension into a starting role. General manager Omar Khan should consider a third option: trading for Little, who lost the Jaguars’ starting left tackle position to Cole Van Lanen last season.
“Little has 39 career starts in five campaigns. He could man the Steelers’ vacant offensive tackle spot until Iheanachor is ready to take the field.”
Little, a second-round choice in the 2021 NFL Draft, has spent the entirety of his professional career with the Jaguars. He’s played in 70 games and was tabbed with a 62.7 overall grade by Pro Football Focus last go-round, which ranked 58th among 89 qualified offensive tackles.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Another Offensive Tackle? Analyst Proposes Steelers Make Trade
