Dan Moore Jr. will make up one-half of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most important roster battle of the summer, fighting first-round rookie Broderick Jones to protect Kenny Pickett’s blindside. While Jones might be the favorite, Moore is the incumbent with experience in the NFL and the Steelers’ system.
And it’s not like Moore is staying stagnant. A relatively young and third-year player himself, he told reporters Thursday that he’s gotten better this offseason.
“Just being grounded in my pass pro and anchoring,” he said via 93.7 The Fan. “Obviously it’s kind of hard to tell right now without pads, but we’ll be able to find out pretty soon.”
His anchor in pass protection has been one of our biggest critiques of Moore’s game. While he’s improved all-around over the past two years, especially down the stretch in 2022, he struggles the most against bull and power rushes. It’s something we’ve pointed out over the years, including noting it on this late-season rep against Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Especially under OL Coach Pat Meyer, being strong and stout with a good anchor is critical. He teaches aggressive pass sets with his linemen initiating contact as opposed to being passive and “catching” the defender. Still, either way, having a stronger anchor with better punch and placement will greatly improve his pass protection.
If Moore can make strides there and if Jones deals with typical rookie struggles, it might be Moore who begins the year as the Steelers’ starting left tackle. As we wrote about a few weeks ago and has become a more common thought among local media, Moore isn’t going to hand his job away.Â
Whoever wins the job will have a tall task his first two weeks, facing San Francisco’s Nick Bosa in Week One and Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in Week Two. The Steelers will face another premier pass rusher in Week Three in Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, though he typically lines up across from the right tackle.
Should Moore win the job, the Steelers will have an interesting situation in determining their backup swing tackle. Jones figures to see most of his snaps on the left side, though he could still get some on the right, and while he played a bit of right tackle in college, most of his time came on the left side. Still, his lack of experience there may make the team uneasy about slotting Jones in at right tackle should Chukwuma Okorafor get hurt.
