Steelers training camp battles: The OT position may force Pittsburgh to buck decades-long trend

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the offseason with a main goal: rebuild the offensive line.

Successfully adding three draft picks that could be long-term starters, the future of the unit is bright when accounting for Broderick Jones.

But in the present, there is still a battle to be won, with three names battling for two spots.

Who Starts where at OT?

“At the end of the day, football is football,” Broderick Jones told reporters at the team’s OTAs earlier this spring. “Right side, left side, in the backfield, it don’t matter, you know, you just got to be ready prepared to play when your name is called. … They still got me swinging both ways just like last year so just got to wait for the season to get here and see what is really set in stone...

"...I really don’t care what side they put me on. As long as I am in the starting lineup that is fine with me. I am an aggressive player, I am a team player so wherever they need me to play, I am ready to play.”

On paper, it seems like an easy solution. Put Broderick Jones at LT (the position he was drafted to play) and start rookie Troy Fautanu at RT, with Dan Moore Jr. immediately becoming one of the better swing tackles (NFL equivalent of NBA sixth man) in the NFL.

But if you know the Steelers, you know it's not that simple. Pittsburgh seldom, if ever, starts rookies straight out of the gate, and they surely don't allow them to run with the first team when camp opens.

The "earn it" mentality is notable and is part of the reason why the Steelers' culture and sustained success on the field have propelled them in their endeavors. But now is not the time to make your rookie first-rounder sit and wait.

The beginning portion of the schedule is too valuable. Pittsburgh has to come out of the gate hot before the back half of what could be the hardest schedule in NFL history kicks in. Asking a rookie tackle to start after the bye week, which would be Week 10, and face such a daunting stretch of AFC North pass rushers to go along with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles defensive line is a recipe for disaster.

So fine, frame it as a battle, but come Week 1, if Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu aren't your bookends, Pittsburgh made a mistake.