Circumstances can change opinions in a hurry, as Dan Moore Jr. is finding out. Even if he still believes he is squarely a left tackle, head coach Mike Tomlin seemingly is coming around to the idea of him playing right tackle. That comes as a mild surprise given his previous comments about Moore. But he didn’t have two young first-round tackles at his disposal at that time, either.
A 2020 fourth-round pick, Dan Moore Jr. has only ever played on the left side. By now a three-year starter for the Steelers, he’s likely to lose his starting role to the duo of Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. Jones, also a left tackle, managed to play on the right side last year, for which Moore credited him. Fautanu played the position long ago, but is now taking to it at the professional level.
As for Moore, he’s been reluctant to embrace a similar move. “Not everyone can play both sides”, he recently acknowledged in speaking to reporters, almost outright putting himself in that category. “The people who can are really blessed and really athletic”.
Yet head coach Mike Tomlin is singing a different tune now with Moore playing on the right side. In November, he said that Moore is a “significantly better” player on the left side. He also emphasized the word “significantly”.
That was at a time that Tomlin was trying to make the case for Moore as a left tackle. He’d recently moved Jones to right tackle over Chukwuma Okorafor, but everyone wanted Jones at left tackle. Now Jones is likely moving to left tackle, but rookie first-rounder Troy Fautanu is learning the right side.
Either way, Moore appears likely destined for a reserve role, in which versatility is important. Accordingly, Tomlin’s tone has shifted while speaking about Moore playing right tackle. “I’m looking to use everybody on both sides until I get some clarity”, he said, via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
When confronted with his previous comments, and those of Moore himself, he repeated that the interpretation implying Moore struggles at right tackle is coming “from your perception”, in this case, the reporters asking the questions.
Yet Moore himself doesn’t sound like he wants to have anything to do with right tackle. I don’t know if he believes he’s really that much better on the left side or he just doesn’t want to move. But any time he talks about playing right tackle, it’s with reluctance. He’s motivated to portray himself as a left tackle at the expense of playing right tackle.
“It’s one of those things where it’s a fine line. Based on the amount of starts I have on the left side, I would like to view myself as a left tackle in this league”, he said, no doubt the recent remark from Moore that reporters asked Tomlin about. To his credit, Moore acknowledged that he needs to adapt.
Mike Tomlin no longer has to commit to Dan Moore Jr. as his left tackle now that he has Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. Accordingly, he no longer has to promote the notion that left tackle is his domain. Perhaps by the end of training camp, Moore will no longer be “significantly” better at left tackle than right.
