If you blinked on Thursday night while watching the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Atlanta Falcons in the preseason finale at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, you likely missed third-year offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr. play eight snaps at right tackle in the first quarter.
Also, please report to the Steelers’ South Side facility for head coach Mike Tomlin to cut your eyelids off.
Back to Moore though. After the Steelers moved up in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to select Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones in an effort to solidify left tackle long-term, Moore — who has started 33 games at left tackle the last two season — took it upon himself to not only fight for the left tackle job, but also learn right tackle on his own to give himself more positional and roster flexibility moving forward.
After not seeing much time throughout the offseason, training camp and the first two preseason games at right tackle, Moore played eight snaps at against the Falcons on Pittsburgh’s third scoring drive of the first quarter, showing flashes of being a potential piece at right tackle for Pittsburgh in the future.
It wasn’t all pretty, but overall for his first extended action at the position, Moore acquitted himself well.
Let’s take a look at the tape.
First rep of the game at right tackle and Moore has a tough assignment on the outside zone run. He has to reach and run against the defensive end shaded on his inside shoulder.
In these instances, footwork is key. Moore doesn’t gain much ground overall with his inside foot at the snap, taking a false step to get his body moving in the right direction. Fortunately for him, he’s able to beat the defensive end off the ball, allowing himself to get even with him along the line of scrimmage. From there, he’s able to get his head across and his outside arm into his chest, allowing him to reach and run.
Nice little finish from Moore there, too, who showed real power in the run game on the night, tossing defenders a few times overall.
Overall, Moore was much more comfortable in the run game than in pass protection at right tackle, which is not a surprise at all.
Still, he looked unsure of himself at times, and footwork is going to be a focal point for him when he eventually does make the move to right tackle.
Here trying to climb to the second level, Moore is a bit hesitant and unsure of himself, playing a bit slow due to the unfamiliarity of the position and likely because he was overthinking his assignment on the rep.
Good news is, Moore does a good job of gaining ground and staying square to the line of scrimmage, putting himself in position to pick off the inside linebacker once he shoots inside, allowing Moore to seal off the edge and give Connor Heyward a clear cutback lane to get to the second level for a nice gain.
The first true “negative” rep from Moore at right tackle came on the very next play.
He oversets a bit too far outside against the defensive tackle on the read-option and opens a lane inside. As he does that, the Atlanta defensive end sees it and shoots the gap. Moore tries to recover, but he’s a step late and ends up getting walked back into Heyward’s path on the run.
Watch his feet. He tries to set up outside and gain ground a bit, but it takes him too far outside, and then he lumbers a bit to recover. It happens when you’re unsure and unfamiliar. That only comes with reps.
Moore’s last rep at right tackle ended in a sack of Trubisky, but it was not his fault at all.
Moore does a good job of giving ground while working laterally just a bit in his pass set to cut off the edge for the pass rusher. He knows he has help from Anthony McFarland Jr. in the backfield, so the pass set reflects that, ensuring that inside rush lane is not an option, funneling the pass rusher towards help.
He’s a tick slow with his hands, allowing the pass rusher to get into his chest and give him a jolt, but he’s able to recover and does a good job of sealing the edge overall. The ball should have come out of Trubisky’s hand by the point via throwaway, or the veteran should have tried to scramble out to his right.
Instead, Trubisky does a big no-no in the pocket and tries to back out of it after stepping up, leading right into the hit and the sack from Moore’s guy.
Moore did his job overall on the rep long enough for something positive to happen, so that sack is on Trubisky.
Overall, Moore showed signs of being able to handle himself at right tackle, especially in the run game. From a pass protection standpoint, he has the ability to do it; he’ll just need reps there to get his footwork and hand usage down.
If Pittsburgh eventually makes the change at left tackle from Moore to Jones during the 2023 season, Moore should be considered a viable option to slide over to right tackle and push Chukwuma Okorafor, if not in the regular season than ahead of the 2024 season.
