When it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie class, eyes will be glued to first-round pick OT Troy Fautanu. Flipping from his college position at left tackle, Fautanu is expected to rep and compete for the starting right tackle job. Broderick Jones will be starting somewhere along the line, left or right tackle, and if Fautanu secures a starting job, veteran Dan Moore Jr. is headed to the bench.
If Dylan Cook keeps progressing, Moore could be shipped off the roster.
That’s the battle behind the top-line battle to watch. Fautanu and Moore will get plenty of press. Fans have considered Moore to have worn out his welcome in the starting lineup, holding off Jones last season, including a return to the lineup after missing the team’s Week 5 win that Jones started and played well in. But if Fautanu doesn’t earn the coaches trust, Moore will start again, probably at left tackle with Jones remaining on the right side.
Assume, though, that Fautanu wins the job. There’s good reason to believe it. Unlike Jones coming out of college, Fautanu is more experienced and refined. And if the fight between both men comes at right tackle, a spot Moore has admitted he’s uncomfortable playing (mostly because he’s been a left tackle almost all his career), Fautanu has a good shot at winning it. Even if he is making his own adjustment to that side.
Typically, a team’s No. 3 offensive tackle assumes the swing role, capable of stepping in at left or right tackle to limit the shifting a team must make if there’s an injury up front. But that’s not Dan Moore. He’s been almost exclusively a left tackle and makes for an awkward fit as a backup. It’s possible Broderick Jones would still flip over to right tackle should Fautanu get hurt, Moore inserting back in at left tackle.
While unconventional, it’s a plausible path for the team to take. But there’s a cleaner route. Dylan Cook is the wild card. Signed last May, he seemingly entered camp as a longshot. Catching my eye during the Friday Night Lights practice with a strong showing, he carried that performance over into the rest of camp. A former college quarterback who hasn’t played o-line for very long, Cook is athletic with strong hands. By the end of camp, his odds of making the 53 were surging. By final cutdowns, the Steelers knew they had to keep him on their roster. Another team would’ve claimed him off waivers. He spent the entire regular season on the 53. Cook dressed for just one game and didn’t register a snap, but spending the year on the Active/Inactive roster was a huge accomplishment.
It makes 2024 an important camp. If Cook can continue to impress, he may earn the swing tackle job. He’s more natural playing either tackle spot, shifting between both last summer and even rounding out the preseason dabbling at left guard. No matter the summer Cook has, there will still be an element of the unknown having never played in the regular season. But the Steelers still could take a leap of faith based off all he did last year and what he’ll have done during the summer.
If those two things play out, Fautanu wins the starting right tackle job and Cook plays well in the summer, Moore becomes expendable. That opens up the trade market. As down as some are on Moore, there will be value for a 26-year-old tackle with his experience at left tackle. Moore is a fine run blocker, hard worker and excellent teammate. Whether or not Pittsburgh would get enough value to trade him away is a different discussion, but in a league starved for offensive line talent and knowing injuries that inevitably occur around the league, Pittsburgh could move him. After all, he’s a free agent after the year and his odds of returning in 2025 are low. Netting a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft is possible. To differing degrees, there were trade markets for Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson. There’d be one for Moore.
Odds still favor Moore remaining a Steeler, backup or starter. The team will value having strong experience and depth throughout the roster to protect their new quarterbacks. But to entertain the other side, a strong summer from Cook will serve as the largest catalyst for the Steelers to move Dan Moore off the roster.
