Over the last few seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the offensive tackle position has been a major concern. Knowing that, the Steelers have tried to find answers there, from drafting Dan Moore Jr. in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft to then trading up in the 2023 NFL Draft to land Broderick Jones in the first round.
Despite the move to land Jones, the tackle position remains a real concern for the Steelers moving forward, especially after the rocky seasons that Moore and Jones had, not to mention the play from Chukwuma Okorafor before being benched.
There were some good moments, but there were far too many down moments, especially late in the season, for the Steelers’ offensive tackles. Heading into another offseason, it remains a major position of need, period.
Now that the season is behind us, it’s a time for reflection and analysis, and that centers on my Steelers positional grades season review. Today, we’ll look at the offensive tackles, taking an individual look at the three players who saw snaps at the position for the Steelers. That being Moore, Jones and Okorafor.
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: QBs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: RBs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: WRs
Steelers’ Positional Grades Season Review: TEs
Dan Moore Jr.: Grade — D-
It’s really hard to sugarcoat this any other way, but Dan Moore Jr. was largely one of the worst tackles in football last season, period. He graded out from Pro Football Focus as the worst pass-blocking offensive tackle in the league, which largely checked out on film. He allowed 55 pressures and eight sacks and took a significant step backward in pass protection overall.
He’s a good athlete, but a times, he plays with too high of a pad level and heavy feet, leading to him having issues with speed off the edge. To try and counter that, he tries to set deeper, and then it gives up the inside. He just has not found consistency as a pass protector, and it might cause him to be out of a job in 2024.
Though he had major issues in pass protection, Moore remained solid as a run blocker. He’s at his best when he’s attacking downhill, aiming to move defenders off of the spot. He has an edge to his game, so he fits what the Steelers want as a power-rushing attack. He graded out at a career-best 57.7 as a run blocker and really came on strong late in the season in that department.
There’s simply not enough good in the run game to counter the bad in pass protection. There’s talent there, but it’s just not clicking for him.
Broderick Jones: Grade — C-
When Jones was first inserted into the starting lineup in Week Nine against the Tennessee Titans, he gave the Steelers’ offensive line a real jolt, especially in the run game. His nasty demeanor playing with an edge, and his athleticism at right tackle, not to mention his power, helped the Steelers take off as a rushing attack overall.
Jones really had some great moments early on in his time at right tackle. But then, he seemingly hit the rookie wall and started to regress down the stretch, especially from a pass-blocking perspective. Playing out of position at right tackle, Jones allowed 25 pressures after becoming the starter at right tackle. Of those 25 pressures, 13 came in the final four weeks of the regular season.
He then allowed another five pressures in the playoff loss to the Bills. He struggled with his hand usage, pad level, and footwork in his pass sets late in the season and really had a tough time against some experienced pass rushers.
Like Moore though, he remains solid as a run blocker and really helped the Steelers establish that identity down the stretch, moving people and sealing off second-level defenders. Hopefully he moves back to his natural left tackle position this offseason, where he was outstanding in Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens.
Chukwuma Okorafor: Grade — C
It was rather surprising to see Okorafor benched in Week Nine for Jones, especially for the reasoning behind it. Reportedly, Okorafor said something on the sideline late in the Week Eight loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which led to his benching. He never got a shot at starting again after that.
Prior to his benching, it wasn’t as if Okorafor was so bad that he needed to be replaced. He had allowed just 11 pressures in the first eight games of the season and had allowed just two sacks. In the 436 snaps he played on the season, Okorafor had nearly an identical run-blocking grade as Jones (62.6) and had a better pass-blocking grade from PFF than either Jones or Moore at 60.7.
That said, Okorafor just never seemed to be a good fit for what the Steelers wanted under OL coach Pat Meyer. He is a good athlete overall for the position, but he doesn’t play all that aggressively, especially as a run blocker. He’s more finesse and body positioning, rather than trying to play bully ball and move defenders off of the spot.
It was noticeable just how much better the run game was going off of the right side with Jones in the lineup compared to Okorafor.
With his benching, Okorafor’s time is undoubtedly coming to an end in Pittsburgh. It was a disappointing flame-out for the former third-round pick that the Steelers re-signed ahead of the 2022 season on a three-year, $33 million extension. But it’s a necessary end. Even when he was in the lineup, he wasn’t good enough. The Steelers need a real answer at RT moving forward.
