Tim Benz: The time is right, the need is present for Steelers to start Broderick Jones, Joey Porter Jr.

I want to avoid committing the sports media sin of criticizing someone — in this case, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin — for something they haven’t done yet.

But the fact that this is even a conversation at all is worthy of some critical words.

Tomlin should end the slow rollout for his top two rookie draft choices and make them full-time starters.

Now. The time is right, and the need is present.

To be fair, by Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, that might happen. The Steelers might open their game against the Rams with first-round pick Broderick Jones at left tackle and second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. at cornerback.

After all, whether you subscribe to stat-based websites like Pro Football Focus or just the eye test, all accounts suggest Jones did a good job in his first start for an injured Dan Moore Jr. against the Baltimore Ravens last week. Certainly, he illustrated a great deal of improvement after a rocky first outing when Moore got hurt during the 30-6 loss in Houston two games ago.

According to PFF, Jones ranked as the No. 13 tackle out of 60 who played at least 20% of his team’s offensive snaps last week. Among left tackles, his grade ranked seventh best. Jones allowed one pressure, one hurry and no sacks among his 38 pass-blocking snaps. Meanwhile, Moore has the website’s lowest grade of any NFL tackle with at least 111 snaps.

Those numbers strike me as hyperbolic. I don’t think Moore has been that bad. And maybe Jones wasn’t quite that good Sunday. Plus, Moore had a huge challenge facing the likes of Nick Bosa (49ers), Myles Garrett (Browns) and Maxx Crosby (Raiders) at various times over the first three weeks.

But the Steelers traded up to draft Jones at No. 14 for a reason. Maybe Moore has been better than what some of the stat geeks are suggesting, but he’s not exactly making anyone forget Anthony Munoz over on the left side of the Steelers line. So I say start Jones against the Rams, even if Moore is capable of suiting up.

After all, L.A. only has 10 sacks as a team. Only three teams have a lower total in the NFL. The main point of concern along the defensive line will be on the interior anyway, as the Steelers will have to figure out the best way to contain Pitt product Aaron Donald. Los Angeles’ edge player with the most sacks so far, Bryon Young (3.0 sacks), moves around to either side of the Rams defense and is also a rookie like Jones.

Yet Moore was reportedly taking first-team reps Monday, and it sure sounds like he’ll be the starter if he is healthy enough to play.

“That’s a big if,” Tomlin said of Moore’s knee Tuesday. “We’ve got some work ahead of us. He’ll be given an opportunity to show his progress over the course of the week. We’ll make that decision at the appropriate time. … He looked pretty good (Monday), we’ll see where the week leads us.”

Maybe injury will be the excuse to go with Jones. But should an excuse really be necessary to start a first-round pick that you traded up to get? Especially over a third-year player who has been so-so at best and was projected to be a backup swing tackle anyway?

“Every venue is an opportunity for learning for a young player — classroom, practices, watching others and then ultimately playing yourself,” Tomlin said. “We’re not interested in excluding any of the teach-tools, because different people learn differently. And we try to accelerate the growth process for all parties involved. I don’t know that we view any of those things any differently.”

Fair points. But Jones sure seemed to learn a lot from getting thrown in the fire mid-game against Houston to having a week to prepare for Baltimore, to having two weeks in preparation for L.A. after the bye. Why not give it a go once again this Sunday with the guy who was drafted to play that spot for the next 10 years?

Porter is a similar story. Ignoring snap-count minimums, Porter has the 12th-best pass coverage grade in the NFL according to PFF. Patrick Peterson is 77th and Levi Wallace is 93rd.

In this instance, those numbers don’t seem so hyperbolic to me. The naked eye can also see that Porter has had a better showing in coverage — granted, in far fewer snaps (86) — than Wallace (349) and Peterson (357) have had.

That’s why he should get more snaps.

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Much like in Jones’ case, though, circumstances may render the discussion moot this week. Not because of injury at the corner. Wallace and Peterson have no known health concerns.

But the Rams may have to play without their top two running backs. Receiver Cooper Kupp is back after a four-week absence to start the year and posted 266 receiving yards in his first two games. The tandem of Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell was a league-wide highlight filling in for Kupp while he was down. Quarterback Matthew Stafford is third in the league in passing attempts at 227.

The Steelers are going to be in defensive-back-heavy sub-packages a lot this week as it is. Whether Porter gets a starting designation or not, may prove to be immaterial, because his snap count may end up being every bit as high as Peterson’s and Wallace’s anyway.

That said, on a parallel track with Jones, the baby steps with Porter have to speed up. The Steelers could’ve easily traded back with the first pick of the second round. But they didn’t want to risk passing on a chance to take Porter a second time. Now that they have him, stop being shy about using him.

“There are several variables at play. It’s what they do, and the quality in which they do it. But it’s also the opportunity,” Tomlin said. “Decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. You can be somewhat pleased with the progress of a player in terms of the direction that they’re moving, but the opportunity has to be there. So, we challenge all of these guys to not be patient. This is not a patient person’s business. It doesn’t behoove them to be patient. We ask them to work while they wait for their opportunity. And then put their readiness on display.”

Again, all fair points. However, I’d argue that the opportunity is there, such a decision to elevate Porter or Jones wouldn’t be happening in a vacuum, and they have both produced some NFL-quality tape, albeit in smaller sample sizes.

Being in the sports media isn’t for patient people either. Call me impatient, then. I want to see more of Jones and Porter ASAP.

In the latest “Breakfast with Benz” podcast, Tim Benz and Joe Rutter recap Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference coming out of the bye.