Organized Team Activities are never a good time to read too much into anything, but on Day 1 of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ OTAs at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, a pair of developments provided some early clarity with one of them certainly raising some eyebrows Tuesday.
Based on the lines during offensive linemen drills under the watchful eyes of Pat Meyer and Isaac Williams, third-year left tackle Dan Moore Jr. received first-team work over rookie Broderick Jones and third-year veteran Kendrick Green was slotted in at second-team center, according to video on Twitter via 93.7 The Fan’s Jeff Hathhorn.
According to the video, the first team offensive line was the following, left to right: Moore at left tackle, Isaac Seumalo at left guard, Mason Cole at center, James Daniels at right guard, and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. The second line was Jones, Kevin Dotson, Green, Nate Herbig and Le’Raven Clark. The third portion of the offensive line included William Dunkle Ryan McCollum and rookie Spencer Anderson.
It should come as no surprise that Moore is working ahead of Jones early on in the process as the Steelers gear up for the 2023 season. While Pittsburgh is very clearly high on Jones, having traded up in the first round to land him at No. 14 overall, it is not going to simply hand the job to the rookie with just 19 career games in college.
Though Moore has had his struggles in the past, there’s something to be said for his durability and experience, having started 34 games in the NFL to date. It’s going to be a battle in training camp and would not be at all surprising if Moore opens the season in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers and star pass rusher Nick Bosa as the Steelers’ starting left tackle.
What was quite the surprise though was Green getting work at second-team center on Tuesday. Last season, Green primarily played guard after a failed experiment as a center in his rookie season. However, with the veteran Dotson being pushed into a depth role due to the signing of Seumalo in free agency to man the left guard spot, that kicked Dotson to second-team left guard, moving Green over to center.
The Steelers currently do not have a backup center on the roster after losing J.C. Hassenauer to the New York Giants in free agency. Ryan McCollum spent some time with Pittsburgh last season, and Spencer Anderson has plenty of positional versatility, as does Nate Herbig, but for now it appears Green is the backup.
We’ll see how things shake out moving forward this offseason, but it’s quite curious how the lines played out on Day 1 of OTAs.
