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90 In 30: Steelers 2021 Training Camp Preview Series: Dan Moore Jr., Tre Norwood, Chukwuma Okorafor

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 11, 2021 at 1:54 pm

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 offseason practices concluded last week. Next up for the team is their annual training camp, which should get underway in the latter part of July. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s 90-man roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers 90-man roster preview that includes outlooks for each player goes alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow along with.

The next three players we will preview today are Dan Moore Jr., Tre Norwood, and Chukwuma Okorafor.

T Dan Moore Jr. — Moore who was selected in the fourth round the 2021 NFL Draft this year by the Steelers, was a three-year starter at tackle for Texas A&M. He measured in at his Pro Day at 6055, 311 pounds, with 34 1/2″ arms and 10 1/4″ hands. He ran the 40 in 5.21 seconds, did 28 reps on the bench, and posted a vertical of 30 1/2″ and a broad jump of 9’2″. Moore was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2020. He started 10 games at left tackle in 2020 on an offensive line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award.

Outlook: Moore is in the developmental stage for the Steelers and one that will likely be asked to learn both tackle spots for the Steelers throughout training camp and the preseason. Moore should make the Steelers 53-man roster as a rookie as most fourth round selections usually do. It’s not guaranteed that Moore will dress for games on a weekly basis right out of the chute as there is a high probability that he’ll be on the inactive list quite a bit at least during the first third of the 2021 regular season., As the season progresses, however, we could ultimately see Moore dress as the team’s backup swing tackle.

S Tre Norwood — The Steelers selected Norwood with the 32nd pick of the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. It was the 245 pick overall in this year’s draft. During his college career, Norwood played both cornerback and safety. He registered 111 total tackles in three seasons with one sack, six interceptions and 14 total passes. Norwood missed the entire 2019 season due to a non-contact knee injury he suffered. He had a torn ACL it was reported. He played cornerback, nickel back and safety during his three seasons with Oklahoma, starting in 24 of the 39 games he played.

Outlook: Norwood has been described as a Swiss Army knife type of player coming out of college due to his position flexibility. The Steelers have Norwood listed as a safety on their roster following the draft so it will be interesting to see if that’s where he gets most of his reps during training camp and the preseason. Norwood is not a lock to make the Steelers 53-man roster this year and especially as an underclassman. If he does wind up making the 53-man roster, he’ll likely be asked to contribute heavily on special teams if he’s to dress weekly. At worst, Norwood will likely land on the Steelers practice squad to start the 2021 regular season and then potentially be a candidate to be promoted to the 53-man roster depending on needs related to the team’s secondary.

T Chukwuma Okorafor — Last season, Okorafor became the starter at right tackle for the Steelers in Week 2 after original starter Zach Banner was lost for the year in Week 1 due to a serious knee injury. Banner had beaten Okorafor out for the starting job in training camp. Okorafor, according to PFF, allowed three sacks during the 2020 season in addition to five quarterback hits and 21 hurries. He played 1035 total offensive snaps in 2020 after playing a combined 229 such snaps in his first two seasons in Pittsburgh after being selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Western Michigan. Okorafor has primarily been a right tackle for the Steelers since he was drafted.

Outlook: 2021 is a big season for Okorafor as it’s the final year of his rookie contract. He’s currently slated to be the Steelers starting left tackle in 2021 ahead of training camp getting underway and hopefully that move back to the side he predominantly played in college will help him immensely. There’s no reason to think that Okorafor won’t be the Steelers starting left tackle for most of the 2021 season as the team really doesn’t have a player currently on their roster who can legitimately push for that job and especially early in the year.

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