Player: T Dan Moore Jr.
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Even if the Steelers don’t draft a tackle in the first round, they’re still clearly looking to upgrade. Dan Moore Jr. is, in all likelihood, in his last season as a starter in Pittsburgh if he does start. Many are predicting that the Steelers take a tackle in the first round. They want to move 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones to left tackle, and Moore himself says he struggles on the right side.
Dan Moore Jr.’s days are numbered as a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don’t see him in the starting lineup in 2025, if the Steelers even re-sign him. Indeed, I don’t take as a given that he will be on the 53-man roster in 2024. He probably will, but I can foresee a scenario in which they trade him. No matter what fans think of him, he is a 45-plus-game starter at left tackle who’s still young. If a team wants to give the Steelers a conditional fourth-round pick or something, they could say yes.
Of course, that hinges on the Steelers finding a new starter and depth. That means Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook really need to look the part this offseason. If they can’t replace him, then Dan Moore Jr. obviously still has a place on this roster.
The popular consensus has the Steelers drafting a tackle in the first round later this week. Whether it’s Amarius Mims or one of the other names we’ve discussed, Moore’s clock starts immediately. I don’t know that a Mims starts on Day 1, in which case they have to hang onto Moore, likely.
But even that isn’t set in stone. Say they want to move Jones regardless of the readiness of a right-side rookie. He is the left tackle come hell or high water, yet Moore still can’t play right tackle. Do you force him there or do you play the rookie, or even Cook or Anderson until the rookie is ready?
There are plenty of different directions things can go, but all roads ultimately lead to Moore losing his starting job in Pittsburgh. Sooner or later, within the next year, he won’t be the Steelers’ starting left tackle.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
