The Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: Dan Moore Jr.
Position: LT
Experience: 3 Years
Well, at least Dan Moore Jr. can say that he survived the season. Everybody accepted as a foregone conclusion that Broderick Jones’ selection would lead to his benching. Well, that didn’t happen. Not because Jones failed to crack the starting lineup but because it happened on the other side.
Moore, a 2020 fourth-round draft pick, has started every game for which he has been healthy. That is now up to 49 games in the regular season, missing one game each in 2020 and 2022. Jones started at left tackle in the one game Moore missed, and many thought that would be the time the move was made.
It wasn’t. After the bye in Week Six, Moore was back at it. Jones took over the right tackle position a few weeks later and started every game thereafter. But what comes next? Will the Steelers move Jones over to his more natural position of left tackle in 2024? Head coach Mike Tomlin declared himself undecided.
That could be problematic, assuming that they release former starting RT Chukwuma Okorafor. Owed $8.75 million next season, he is an easy salary cap casualty if he is not starting. But if Jones starts at left tackle, Okorafor would make more sense to start at right tackle.
After all, by his own admission, Moore struggles at right tackle. Tomlin sort of acknowledged as much as well. The ultimate question has to be about his level of play. It seems as though the Steelers value what Moore has to offer than most do on the outside.
That includes Pro Football Focus, which graded him out as the worst tackle in the league in pass protection. With Moore over there, the left tackle position is widely regarded as one of the Steelers’ weakest links.
Moving Jones over there could solve that—hopefully—but then you have the question of right tackle. As for Moore, he is still under his rookie deal and, at worst, would remain as a swing tackle. He might serve as a tackle-eligible tight end as well, should he not start. In fact, I would bet on that.
