Mike Tomlin goes the extra mile to ruin Steelers first-round pick's career

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is in a difficult position: Should he sacrifice one player's potential for the team's unfortunate reality? Tomlin tends to rely on the flexibility of his offensive line a little too much. That is fine for veterans like Dan Moore Jr., who is little more than filler until Troy Fautanu is ready to start.

Broderick Jones is another story altogether. Jones played left tackle at Georgia. He was drafted as a left tackle. Yet, when Tomlin finally inserted Jones into the starting lineup last season, it was at right tackle.

Jones performed admirably given the circumstances, and even showcased the potential that made him a first-round pick in the first place. Perhaps the Steelers view Jones as their long-term solution at right tackle, and if that's the case, they should keep him there. Asking Jones to play multiple positions along the offensive line while he's still developing a cadence on the right-hand side is...risky, to say the least. Not to mention, Jones injured his elbow in training camp. Now is not the time to add to his workload.

Steelers are playing games with Broderick Jones career

When asked where Jones will start come Week 1, Tomlin didn't have definitive answer.

"No, I haven't made any determinations regarding that," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "Obviously, he's worked a lot on the right. But again, we're gonna continue to watch that as we progress through the week because versatility has been an asset for him and us."

Tomlin and the Steelers love versatility on the offensive line. That's been evident in their recent drafts, as they selected Jones, Fautanu and center Zach Frazier, who can also theoretically play multiple positions.

However, versatility is rarely what determines a franchise tackle. Instead, the Steelers would be wise to keep Jones and Fautanu at the their current positions, which appear to be the former on the right and latter on the left. Moore Jr.'s versatility should be valued, of course, as he's little more than depth at this point in his career.

Shifting Jones back to left tackle -- where he was once thought to be a franchise player -- will send mixed messages to a young player Pittsburgh hopes remains on their offensive line for years to come.

While it's an overstatement to say this alone is putting Jones career at risk, it's certainly not helping his development on the right-hand side, a position that he's still learning at the professional level.