For the rest of the preseason, we’ll give a recap, position by position, player by player of what I saw during the 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers training camp and preseason games. This list is based off the 16 public camp practices and the preseason games I’ve watched up until this point and is based solely off their performance then and does not necessarily represent my feelings for the players overall or during the regular season. This article was written prior to the preseason finale against Atlanta and won’t be part of my evaluation process.
A heads up, I intend on using the full grading scale through these reports. Not just giving players A’s to C’s. It may sound harsh but it’s as honest and fair as I can be.
Now moving onto the offensive line, beginning with the tackles.
Dan Moore Jr.
A really good camp for Moore, who is coming into his own. A third-year player with a boatload of reps, not missing a game in his first two years in the league, Moore had a couple of rough practices early on when the team wasn’t in pads. There were issues sealing the edge against Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt, though most tackles would have their hands full with them.
Once the pads started popping, Moore looked a lot better. His game isn’t radically different from last year, but it is refined. An incredibly hard worker — that’s been evident since his rookie minicamp when he was taking pass sets by himself when he wasn’t in team periods — Moore has improved his technique. He’s gotten comfortable and really good with Pat Meyer’s independent hand usage, punching with one hand instead of a two-handed punch. Moore also looks better against bull and power rushes, not getting walked back as often, though I want to see more in-game reps of him defending it.
All of his summer snaps came with the first team and roughly 95 percent of his snaps came at left tackle. The remainder saw him at right tackle, days or reps where Chukwuma Okorafor was more limited and Moore slid over. Presumably, he’ll also be the backup right tackle, replacing Okorafor if he ever got hurt, and you wonder if Moore has really gotten enough reps to feel remotely comfortable there. But that’s how they’ve handled things.
Overall, Moore has been available, humble, and put in the time to get better. All while taking his competition, rookie Broderick Jones, under his wing and making him better. Moore doesn’t say a lot but he’s a rock-solid dude and teammate. And turning into a fine left tackle. There’s every expectation to believe Moore will be the starter come Week One.
Camp Grade: A-
Dylan Cook
A pleasant surprise, Cook has plenty of tools worth molding. A former college quarterback who converted to right tackle, Cook has great feet and good length. More importantly, he knows how to use his hands and has a solid first punch with a wickedly good snatch ‘n trap technique displayed in practice and in-game. He opened camp as the third-string left tackle, flipped to the right side and at the end of camp and for the Bills’ preseason game, moved up to second-team right tackle. He even saw a handful of reps at left guard during the final practice of camp. Granted, Pittsburgh’s lines were short that day without Nate Herbig or Isaac Seumalo but it’s gotta mean they like this guy to try to move him around.
The only disappointing thing was that Cook didn’t see elevated reps sooner. His camp was against all the third and fourth stringers. Hey Mike Tomlin, we get it, he can beat up on Toby Ndukwe. Let’s see it versus someone better.
Overall, Cook is a sleeper. He’s not as big and long but in some ways, he reminds me of Alejandro Villanueva. Position conversion, the snatch ‘n trap, the athleticism, and the work-your-way-up story (Cook was working at Walmart when he found out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were signing him as an UDFA). He’s someone the Steelers should keep around. I’m almost worried about him getting plucked off waivers in this NFL world starved for o-line talent.
Camp Grade: B+
Chukwuma Okorafor
Okorafor is fine. He’s not bad. He’s not amazing. To his credit, and really you can say the same about the tackles and whole o-line, he’s healthy and available. These guys just didn’t miss time. He got one planned half-day and that was about it. Sure, he took his lumps from T.J. Watt like every other tackle on this planet.
Okorafor is just a guy who doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything. There could be a meteor hurtling towards Earth and Okorafor would still calmly get into his pass set and ride a speed rush upfield. Make no mistake, there’s nothing super enticing about his game but he’s steady. He never even looked all that uncomfortable in Pat Meyer’s system and has seemed to utilize his aggressive “chasedown” blocks against widely aligned defensive ends.
However, he did struggle in the preseason opener, beat twice on the opening drive, and graded out poorly overall. Things were better against Buffalo. He’ll enter the season as the team’s starting right tackle and should play just fine, though superstar he’ll never be.
Camp Grade: B
Broderick Jones
The Steelers’ first-round pick whom they traded up for, it was a good though not a great summer. To his credit, Jones was available and worked hard. Being a first-round pick isn’t going to his head, and he has the right attitude and mentality, understanding the job is to be earned and not given. He went to Georgia, he was a backup, he knows the score.
Jones’ athleticism and lateral mobility really jump out at you. As he once said with a smile, speed rushes aren’t so much the concern for him. He “builds his house” well in his pass sets and he’s smooth with the ability to mirror counters. Jones plays with good posture and is rarely on the ground. His balance speaks to his athleticism. His eyes are active and he’s apt at picking up stunts. As a run blocker, he looked serviceable, throwing his weight around in some camp practices, though he has to work on his technique here, especially on his double-teams and combo blocks. It’s a little sloppy.
Overall, technique is his issue. Jones has to get better with his hands and initial punch. His punch is too wide, and he doesn’t create enough solid initial contact. He works hard to re-fit his hands but Jones runs into leverage problems and lacks terrific strength to stall out. Guys can get under and forklift him. He struggled more against Buffalo than he did against Tampa Bay with sets that looked sloppier, getting beat for a sack.
Assuming he’s the backup, Jones has only worked at left tackle this summer. Meaning he’s not a right tackle option, which makes things trickier when it comes to a backup plan behind Chukwuma Okorafor. Messy at it is, I think Moore would just shift over in those situations.
There’s a half-dozen different ways Jones will see the field this year. It’s just a question of when. Overall, he looks close to ready, but his game needs more refinement and that’s why he’ll begin the year as a backup.
Camp Grade: B
Spencer Anderson
Anderson could be written about here or with the interior guys. But based on my eye test, he logged more time at tackle than guard. Anderson opened camp as the third-string right tackle. He’s athletic, has good feet, and mirrors inside rushes well. His play strength is okay, just average, but he’s cerebral enough to play all five spots in camp. Center came last and had its rough edges, one time going full B.J. Finney not snapping the ball as everyone else around him moved. To play all five spots, sometimes during the same team period, requires a high football IQ and Anderson has it.
His play has been steady enough that he’s got a good chance to make the 53-man roster. He’s an obvious backup to begin his career but like Chris Hubbard, Matt Feiler, Trai Essex, and other Steelers, his versatility is worth keeping him around.
Camp Grade: B-
Le’Raven Clark
Signed as a veteran insurance policy in the offseason, Clark looked as expected. Which is to say, he’s probably not making the team. There’s value in his versatility and he has the length (36-inch arms) the Steelers covet. But he’s so slow-footed off the ball. Nick Herbig cooked him off the edge early in camp. He’s a lunger, a reacher, and the tape just isn’t pretty. I guess he wasn’t quite as bad in-game as I feared he might; it helped he has more experience than many of those he was facing. Running with the second string for most of camp, he fell to third string by its end and should be released on the 29th.
Camp Grade: D+
STEELERS TRAINING CAMP GRADES
