Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. starting over rookie Broderick Jones was not a popular decision among Pittsburgh Steelers fans, eager to see the rookie play after a good showing in his first start in Week Five. But by all accounts, Mike Tomlin’s choice was not a costly one against the Los Angeles Rams. Moore got the nod and played well, his best game of the season, and Tomlin echoed those thoughts during his Tuesday press conference.
“I thought he was really solid,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “Man, not only his play, but his demeanor. He brings a grown man approach to it. Thought he was really good.”
Moore was injured early in Week Four’s loss to the Houston Texans, spraining the MCL in his right knee eight snaps into the game. Jones replaced him the rest of the way and struggled a bit, though that’s expected coming off the bench. Jones looked far better with a week’s worth of preparation in his first NFL start against the Baltimore Ravens and on tape, making the case to continue starting.
But it doesn’t seem like that was on the table. At least, if it was, Tomlin isn’t telling the public. In a follow-up question, he was asked if there was any debate about starting Moore versus Jones throughout the week.
“I wouldn’t peel back the curtains for you if there was a debate,” he said.
Coming into the Rams game, the only comment Tomlin made about the situation was that Moore would have a chance to show he was healthy and physically able to play. During the week, Jones and Moore told reporters they didn’t know who was going to start. But it sounds like Moore got most if not all of the first-team reps throughout the week of practice, and his starting against the Rams was the world’s worst-kept secret.
To his credit, he played well against the Rams. They don’t have a top-tier EDGE rusher like the others he faced earlier in the year, Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett, and Maxx Crosby, but still slowed down Rams rookie pass rusher Byron Young, who came into the game leading the team with three sacks. His run blocking was also solid, leading the way for RB Najee Harris on one gap-scheme run.
If you’re into metrics, PFF graded him as one of the best offensive Steelers of the week, right behind WR George Pickens and QB Kenny Pickett.
Coming off this game, Moore will remain the starting left tackle over Jones going forward and it will take an injury, or Moore to deeply struggle over a span of games, for that to change. Jones’ best path for playing time is potentially as a sixth offensive lineman, an idea the Steelers have teased but not actually used this year.
