Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just the explainer today. You’re probably wondering why the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed poised to start Dan Moore Jr. over Broderick Jones at left tackle in tomorrow’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Though it hasn’t been formally announced, every indication since basically Monday that Moore will return to the lineup after missing Week Five due to an MCL sprain, sending Jones back to the bench.
Why go back to Moore when Jones played so well against Baltimore? When Jones is supposed to be the left tackle of the future. The time is now.
There’s two reasons why. Like Chris Hoke recently said, Mike Tomlin has this stubborn mentality of not having a starter lose his job due to injury. Pittsburgh had no plans of benching Moore before he got hurt so they’re not compelled to keep him there once he’s healthy. They follow the simple formula. Injured = sit, health = play.
But there’s a bigger reason than that. No, Moore hasn’t played well this season. If you’re so inclined, PFF’s numbers grade him out as the league’s worst tackle, 76th out of 76. His pass block grade is nine points lower than 75th and nearly 20 points worse than 74th. It looks as abysmal as it can get. So what gives?
Context is needed. Because Moore faced one heck of a trio to kickoff his season. In Week One, he saw an earful of San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa. In Week Two, he somehow got an even more difficult matchup in Cleveland’s Myles Garrett. And in Week Three, he saw a fair amount of Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, who played more RDE than he typically does. When you face three top pass rushers like that, and you’re not an elite tackle (Moore certainly isn’t), you’re going to struggle. That isn’t calculated into something like PFF grades. Not a slight on them, there’s not a great way to quantify that kind of stuff.
Again, don’t yell at me. Please. I think the team should start Jones. I want the team to go down that road. The rookie can play so let him play. I’m just understanding Pittsburgh’s rationale. Moore entered the year starting, had a murder’s row of pass rushers to deal with, and we haven’t gotten to see him perform against a “lesser” defensive end. Unless you count his eight snaps against the Houston Texans. So back into the starting lineup he goes. That’s their calculation. Had Jones been in his shoes the first three games, he would’ve struggled to.
Now, there’s no doubt Moore must play well in games like tomorrow’s tilt against the Los Angeles Rams. They don’t boast a scary EDGE rusher like Moore has faced. Rookie Byron Young has been productive, he leads the team with three sacks, but he’s not like those other guys. This is a better litmus than what he’s had before. If the struggles continue, then you really have to wonder how much longer the team can rationally justify starting Moore. But they’re going to give him that chance. And it means Jones will have to wait a little longer.
