Ben Roethlisberger has always gone to bat for his offensive linemen. Max Starks, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Roethlisberger’s defended his guys who have put their head down and worked. Add offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr. to the list. While it’s not the first time Roethlisberger has had Moore’s back, Roethlisberger strongly endorsed his ability to beat out Broderick Jones to be the team’s starting left tackle. And that it was Roethlisberger who told Moore the Steelers had just drafted his potential replacement.
Roethlisberger told the story on the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast that aired Wednesday.
“When they drafted [Jones], I texted Dan right away,” Roethlisberger told co-host Spence. “Something along the lines of, ‘Keep your head up. Let this motivate you, not put you down.’ His response was, ‘What do you mean? What are you talking about? Who did they take?’ He didn’t even know they took him like he was so like, whatever.”
Roethlisberger meant that in a positive way, showing that Moore wasn’t worried about any competition, despite the obvious offseason noise that Pittsburgh was interested in a top tackle.
Moore started for Roethlisberger’s final season in the league. A fourth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he was thrust into the starting lineup after OT Zach Banner suffered a setback recovering from his 2020 torn ACL. That kept Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle and put Moore in the starting lineup. While Moore’s taken his lumps, he’s progressed throughout his career and played well the final half of 2022. He allowed only 5.5 sacks last season, an improvement of the 7.5 given up in 2021, though penalties were an issue. He was flagged nine times, second-most on the team only trailing Kevin Dotson’s 10.
To Roethlisberger, he knows Moore’s work ethic will make him a tough out this summer.
“For Dan’s sake, I love the way he’s fighting through this,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t know what’s gonna end up happening to him. But I love the fact that Dan didn’t roll over. Because I’ve seen guys roll over. ‘They’ve got the first rounder, they’ve got a second rounder. I got no chance…’ he could’ve even said, ‘I’m gonna go fight to try and be the swing tackle.’ He’s saying, ‘No, I want that left tackle job. I want that spot.’ And he’s fighting for it and he’s not giving up on it. And I’m excited to see that battle the rest of camp. I’ll tune in Friday to see what Dan does. I don’t know who’s starting but it’ll be awesome to watch.”
Throughout the 2023 training camp, Moore has consistently run ahead of Jones as the team’s starting left tackle. Jones has had only a handful of first-team reps. In those moments, Moore moved over to right tackle with Okorafor coming out, meaning Moore has taken every first-team snap this year. It’s a testament to his durability and availability, starting all 34 games of his NFL career.
If Moore loses the battle, he’ll become a valuable swing tackle. If Moore wins it, Jones isn’t likely to be as capable, playing left tackle for 95-percent of his college and NFL career, making for a trickier calculation as to who the backup right tackle would be. Either Le’Raven Clark would have to step in or the team would be forced to move Moore to the right side with Jones coming in at left tackle.
As we wrote earlier in the offseason, Moore wasn’t going to give up his spot without a fight. The battle figures to go down to the wire. Jones has had his positive moments and his athleticism is consistently on display, though he (like Moore) is working on defending bull rushes and power. Friday night’s preseason opener against Tampa Bay will be a great chance to evaluate both men. Though Roethlisberger said he’s unsure who will start, it will almost certainly be Moore with Jones coming in with the rest of the second-stringers.
Catch the whole episode below.
