With the Steelers’ 2023 regular season about underway following a disappointing year that came up just short of reaching the playoffs, it’s time to start finding out whether or not the answers to last year’s questions are on the roster, tested all throughout training camp and the preseason.
Both sides of the ball got key additions through both free agency and the draft, with new starters, including potentially rookies, amounting to half a dozen or more. The offensive line, the linebackers, and the secondary were all key targets since last year. But what will they look like?
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
Topic Statement: It’s time to make the switch to Broderick Jones at left tackle.
Explanation: Though Pro Football Focus grades are always to be taken with a grain of salt, the outlet has Dan Moore Jr. rated as the worst offensive tackle in the NFL this season, by a good margin. He has allowed more pressures and hits on the quarterback than anybody else in the league, with the lowest pass-block efficiency rating. Yet the Steelers felt he was the safer option to start over rookie Broderick Jones, who remains somewhat raw and inexperienced.
Buy:
Don’t be fooled by the stat sheet. You can look at the numbers put up by Nick Bosa in the first game and Myles Garrett in the second game and you can trick yourself in to thinking that Dan Moore Jr. actually played well, or at least held his own.
The thing is, you can’t just go by the stat sheet if you want to determine a player’s impact on the game. For that, you need to actually study the tape, and it’s clear that both Bosa and Garrett manipulated and limited what the Steelers could do on offense, because Moore couldn’t keep them in check.
Now, Broderick Jones isn’t going to be the answer—yet—but we know that Moore never will be. Make the change now and get the future started early. Who cares if there will lumps to be taken when QB Kenny Pickett and the running backs already have a head full of lumps from defenders getting around their left tackle?
Sell:
Those who say things like “it can’t get any worse” merely display their lack of imagination. It can always get worse. The Steelers very well could get worse play out of Broderick Jones than they have out of Dan Moore Jr. over the past two weeks. He’s far less experienced, obviously. He’s less technically sound. He’s still learning.
And let’s not forget that Moore has gone up against some elite pass rushers over the first two weeks of the season in Nick Bosa and Myles Garrett, and one can argue that their impact on the game was somewhat limited.
Coincidentally, Moore in ways reminds me of Max Starks, the two bound by former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’s love for them. What they both had in common is that, while they would give up a lot of pressures, they wouldn’t give up the sacks. The quarterback would need happy feet, but would know more often than not that he could negotiate around it.
Jones is learning. He’s working at right tackle recently. Now they may even start working him in as a tackle-eligible. How about we wait and see what Moore might look like when he’s not facing pass rushers who make Pro Bowlers look bad?
