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Dan Moore Jr.

Latest On Steelers’ Battles At OT

August 11th, 2023 at 9:53pm CST by Ely Allen

Last weekend, we noted how the Steelers seemed to be prepping first-round rookie offensive tackle Broderick Jones for a starting role in training camp. Now, after the team’s first preseason game of 2023, it seems Jones has some ground to make up on the incumbent starters from last season.

Pittsburgh opened camp not only with Jones at left tackle in place of Dan Moore, who started at the position all last season, but also with Moore in the place of Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. Not only did it seem that Jones was set to start as a rookie, it appeared that he was about to push both of the prior year starters out of their positions.

Mark Kaboly of The Athletic was not having it. Kaboly delivered an extremely honest and realistic take after attending Steelers’ practice last Sunday. What he saw did not have him feeling confident about Jones lining up against Nick Bosa in Week 1, when the 49ers open the season in Pittsburgh. Kaboly gave the rookie some credit; the young man is a physical specimen playing at one of “the most unnatural” positions on offense.

It’s never a given that a rookie can come in and start during their first season, but the Steelers traded up in the first round to select an offensive tackle for the first time in 25 years. It would seem like a disappointment for Jones not to develop into a starter to open his rookie year, but it’s only important that he develops into a starter eventually. The preseason will be an important time to get Jones acclimated to the speed of the game at the NFL level, but rushing Jones into starting action could be detrimental to the team and Jones’s development.

Right now, Kaboly asserts that Moore, the incumbent starter on the blindside, currently looks better than Jones. He certainly should considering he has 34 NFL starts on his resume. Jones is still learning the ins and outs of playing one of the most challenging positions in the NFL. Moore’s got the experience, as does Okorafor, who’s started 52 games over his first five years in the league.

To start the preseason tonight, the Steelers trotted Moore and Okorafor out in their starting positions from last season on the first series of the game. The rest of the contest saw Jones getting his feet wet against NFL competition as the team’s left tackle. That sequence of events seems to support Kaboly’s assertion. It seems the Steelers feel better about Moore and Okorafor’s abilities to start right now, while Jones still needs a bit of seasoning.

Jones delivered a mixed bag in his first NFL action. For much of the appearance, he impressed against a second-team Buccaneers defense, eventually showing inconsistencies as the game wore him down. The results don’t matter too much, though, for now. It was just important for Jones to get out there and start getting comfortable at the position. Despite not starting his rookie year on the first team, his draft stock makes him the de facto tackle of the future in Pittsburgh.

With Jones expected to take over eventually, that makes this season crucial for Moore and Okorafor. Both linemen are under contact through the 2024 season and would be likely extension candidates in the coming offseason. According to another Kaboly take, though, Jones’s presumed place atop future depth charts makes it likely that only one of Moore or Okorafor will be chosen to extend their tenure in Pittsburgh. It will likely be a combination of who performs better this season and who fits best across from Jones that will decide the team’s other tackle of the future.

For now, though, it appears Moore and Okorafor will continue their stints as starters on the Steelers’ offensive line. It’s too early to rule Jones out to open the season as a starter, but it’s seeming more and more likely that he’ll be coming off the bench to start the year and will need to continue working to earn a starting role.

Steelers LT Dan Moore In Line To Retain Starting Role?

June 19th, 2023 at 1:13pm CST by Adam La Rose

An upgrade at offensive tackle was widely seen as a top draft priority for the Steelers this year, so it came as no surprise when they used their first-round selection (following a trade up the board) on Broderick Jones. That decision came with the expectation of a change on the blindside immediately taking place, but spring practices suggested otherwise.

However, incumbent Dan Moore has taken all of Pittsburgh’s first-team snaps so far this offseason, as noted by The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly (subscription required). Moore has started all 33 of his regular season appearances in two years with the Steelers since joining the team as a fourth-round pick. His level of play over that span has drawn underwhelming reviews from PFF along with plenty of criticism. However, the team’s coaching staff has been impressed dating back to the 2022 campaign.

“If you watched him from midseason last year to the end of the season, he’s improved as much as anybody I have ever been around,” offensive line coach Pat Meyer said while evaluating Moore, 24. “To me, he’s going to be lights out.”

The Texas A&M alum did take a step forward in terms of PFF ratings in 2022 compared to his rookie season, though his overall grade (62.4) leaves plenty to be desired. Moore was charged with seven sacks allowed last season, as was the case in 2021. That may provide Jones a window of opportunity to showcase his pass protection in training camp, but one of the downsides to his pre-draft evaluation was his lack of playing experience at Georgia.

As a result, Kaboly adds that the eventual transition from Moore to Jones at left tackle may not take place in 2023, or at least by the beginning of the campaign. Interestingly, the former has also spent time practicing as a right tackle, the spot he is likeliest to occupy once the latter becomes a first-teamer. The RT position currently belongs to Chukwuma Okorafor, as it has since 2020. Moore could very well find himself competing for the starting spot on that side, though the point at which that happens may be delayed relative to early expectations.

Jets, Steelers Address First-Round Decisions

May 9th, 2023 at 8:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the past two weeks have brought one of the more notable stretches of positive Jets publicity in recent NFL history, their Aaron Rodgers-driven momentum has experienced a speedbump. The pick-swap component of the Rodgers trade is widely believed to have cost the Jets the offensive lineman they coveted.

Robert Saleh attempted to provide a counterstrike against the notion the Steelers’ three-spot trade-up — for Georgia tackle Broderick Jones — cost the Jets their preferred pick. Part of the Rodgers trade involved the Jets swapping first-round picks with the Packers, dropping from No. 13 to No. 15, and the Steelers’ trade-up maneuver ensured the draft’s top tackles were gone by the time the Jets’ pick arrived. Gang Green took edge rusher Will McDonald at No. 15.

“The difference between 13 and 15 and the way everything shook out made no difference to us,” Saleh said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show (video link). … We’re always going to take the best player available when it presents itself. I think what surprised everybody is that you could make an argument the best available wasn’t a need. It doesn’t change what you do, but for the last two years, everybody we drafted seemed to be a need.”

The Jets added McDonald to an edge group that includes Carl Lawson, 2022 first-round pick Jermaine Johnson and versatile veteran John Franklin-Myers. Lawson’s contract expires after this season, potentially positioning the Jets to use Johnson and McDonald as their longer-term edge starters. For 2023, however, McDonald may not be a starter.

Pittsburgh did view New York as eyeing Jones at No. 15, and GM Omar Khan said the team was leery about other teams moving ahead of its No. 17 draft slot for Jones. Assistant Steelers GM Andy Weidl worked with Jets GM Joe Douglas with the Ravens and Eagles, and Khan mentioned pro personnel director Sheldon White‘s contributions when it came time for Steelers brass to determine which teams were threats for Jones.

“No, no inside information, but we have Sheldon White, who’s our director of pro, does a really good job of preparing us leading into the draft as to what every team-specific needs are and what he believes their priorities are,” Khan said, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “And it wasn’t just the Jets, but there were teams behind us that we had the same concern that they might come up and had a need for an offensive tackle that might come up and trade up to get Broderick.

“Again, when the opportunity was there, we just didn’t want to take the chance of waiting to see if he was there or not. But we had no inside info that’s who the Jets were gonna take. It’s just a hunch.”

It required only a fourth-round pick for the Steelers to move up three spots, via the Patriots, in Round 1. It took the Eagles a fourth to move up one spot in the first round (for Jalen Carter), and the Bills a fourth to climb two positions (for Dalton Kincaid). Some have labeled the Patriots as being eager to allow a team to leapfrog the Jets for Jones — who received high marks from Gang Green during his “30” visit. Khan said he did not discuss the Jets component during trade talks with the Patriots.

The Steelers, who had made just one first-round trade-up (for Devin Bush, in 2019) over the past 15 drafts, added Jones to likely replace two-year starter Dan Moore at left tackle. Georgia’s 2022 left-side starter, via The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, is more likely to supplant Moore than right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, who may be a better bet to remain a starter once Jones is up to speed (subscription required). Pro Football Focus rated Moore and Okorafor outside the top 50 at tackle last season. Okorafor has operated as Pittsburgh’s starting right tackle for the past three seasons.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/18/21

May 18th, 2021 at 9:58pm CST by Rory Parks

A roundup of today’s mid-round draft pick signings:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Pittsburgh Steelers