For the rest of the summer, we’ll give a position-by-position, player-by-player recap of what I saw during the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers training camp and preseason games. This list is based off the 16 public camp practices and the preseason games I’ve watched to this point. It’s based solely off their performance over that span and does not necessarily represent my feelings for the player over the course of the regular season.
A heads up, I intend on using the full grading scale through these reports. Not just giving players A’s to C’s. It may sound harsh but it’s as honest and fair as I can be.
Today, analyzing the offensive tackles.
Dan Moore Jr.
Despite the Steelers adding another first round tackle to the mix, Moore’s role remains unchanged. He served as the team’s starting left tackle wire-to-wire and despite rumblings of him flipping and competing with Troy Fautanu at right tackle, he didn’t take a single snap on the right side this summer. The few times Broderick Jones moved over to first-team left tackle, Moore simply came out of the rep.
His camp, as they’ve always been, was solid and steady. He had solid matchups with Alex Highsmith in 1v1 battles, knowing him well and defending his inside spin with ease. Through two preseason games, Moore has definitively been the Steelers’ best tackle. Of course, his competition has been a hurt rookie and an injured second-year player so it’s not like he’s competing against prime Anthony Munoz. But even in a vacuum, Moore has been solid on the blindside. He’s got a good punch and is comfortable working independent hands. I didn’t see him get put on his heels against bull rushes as often, his biggest weakness, though I don’t recall him facing those moves too often.
In team periods, he took some lumps and had trouble securing the edge, having one bad practice getting worked over in Seven Shots, and Kyron Johnson sped around him on one rep later in camp.
The health at tackle makes Moore’s role for the season unclear. Right now, he’s the healthiest and best-looking tackle they’ve got. It’s a reminder than you can’t get rid of Dan Moore easily. Right now, the Steelers need him more than ever.
Camp Grade: B+
Troy Fautanu
Things were going well for Fautanu until his first NFL game. A contest that’s supposed to be a fond memory to look back on, Fautanu got dusted around the edge by Danielle Hunter to allow a sack and then got beat and run through inside to allow another sack/pressure a short time later. He sprained his MCL sometime during the first half and was removed at halftime, not playing against Buffalo and doubtful to play versus Detroit. The expectation is he’ll suit up for Week 1 against Atlanta.
His actual camp was good. While he’s not the biggest tackle with “guard height,” he has length and a big and powerful lower half. It allows him to explode out of his stance, and it’s hard to beat him around the edge when he takes a good set. The sack he allowed against Hunter was due in part to his set not getting enough depth and width, Fautanu more vertical because of the 3T in his gap. Point is, on his normal 45-degree kick set, he’s a hard man to run around.
T.J. Watt praised him for varying up his sets, Fautanu an experienced tackle who knows how to keep rushers off balance. The biggest and most consistent negative I saw in camp was him being prone to getting beat to the inside, and he’ll have to work on redirecting against interior counters a bit better. But the traits are there. Had he stayed healthy, I could’ve evaluated his run blocking a bit better, something that can be harder to do watching camp live.
The injury was disappointing obviously but I’m optimistic about his future.
Camp Grade: B
Dylan Cook
One of the top names I wanted to watch entering camp, there was a chance for Cook to become the swing tackle. To push Dan Moore Jr. off the roster and be the No. 3. That’s not going to happen. In part because Fautanu’s injury and Jones’ struggles make Moore valuable. And in part because Cook didn’t do anything to take a big step forward.
Perhaps that’s an expectations thing. The bar this year was higher than last when Cook was signed in May and entered camp as a virtual unknown, even to me. He flashed and impressed and had a great summer, playing his way onto the 53 to ensure the Steelers wouldn’t lose him to a waiver claim.
Cook’s camp wasn’t bad. He’s still athletic, uses his hands well, and rarely has a terrible rep or bad day. So perhaps it’s unfair to critique him without a clear red mark on his camp grade. I just thought it’d be a little more…next level. A little more, “This is the guy.” Pittsburgh also moved him around less this year than last year. Really, they didn’t move anyone besides Broderick Jones until injuries forced their hand. Cook spent most of camp at left tackle, only playing a little bit on the right side after Fautanu was injured, and zero guard after seeing late-summer work there a year ago. Granted, Pittsburgh had a stronger and deeper line, especially along the interior, so there really weren’t opportunities to be flexible.
He enters cutdown a bit on the bubble and whose spot feels less secure than a year ago. Still, Nate Herbig’s injury takes him off the board and boosts Cook’s chances of being one of nine linemen to make the 53.
Camp Grade: C+
Broderick Jones
Oh boy. It’s been an adventure and not the fun kind. More like the “surviving The Titanic” kind. The first half of Jones’ camp was inoffensive enough, though the frustration of the team’s handling of him continued. For the first two weeks of camp, Jones almost exclusively played on the right side getting so few left tackle reps you could count them on one hand.
Once Troy Fautanu got first-team work at right tackle ahead of the Steelers’ preseason opener, Jones split first-team left tackle reps with Moore. But even then, it wasn’t a lot, and Moore always ran ahead of Jones, getting the first pair of reps with the 1s to begin team periods before Jones replaced him for the next two.
Jones donned a bulky brace on his right arm for most of camp. During the Friday Night Lights practice where the team buses over from the college to a high school stadium, he missed almost all of warmups as trainers attached and strapped the brace onto his right arm. Despite some sort of injury, he didn’t miss a single practice, potentially signaling rest alone isn’t the cure.
But the games were a different story. Jones struggled against the Houston Texans and was abysmal versus the Buffalo Bills, allowing two sacks and a third QB hit/pressure against Justin Fields. His punch is erratic and missing terribly and he’s not shooting his hands quickly enough, failing to sustain control on blocks.
Jones has said the right things, though he’s also noted there’s “multiple” injuries he’s dealing with, and kudos to him for his toughness. Like Dan Moore, he’s been a great teammate, not complaining about injuries or shifting between tackle spots, and he spent time with TE Darnell Washington post-practice one day helping Washington on his kick set. Obviously, their ties run from their Georgia days into the NFL.
Hopefully Jones can improve his technique and either get healthier or adjust to the brace better. Because Pittsburgh needs him to.
Camp Grade: C
Devery Hamilton
Hamilton spent almost all of training camp running third-team left tackle, only seeing literally 3-4 right tackle reps during the final team period when TyKeem Doss got a couple of reps during his one camp practice. With a bit of experience and adequate size (6065, 311 pounds out of Duke, though just 33-inch arms), Hamilton could function enough to seal the edge even if he had to abandon his base to do it. He had trouble redirecting and got cooked by OLB Jeremiah Moon’s inside spin on at least one occasion. His run blocking was just okay, and he plays high and stiff.
He could stick on the practice squad for a bit but Pittsburgh should explore external options at cutdowns to boost its practice squad.
Camp Grade: D+
Anderson Hardy
I don’t want to be the guy who punches down. Hardy should be commended for making an NFL team and lasting an entire camp. He was available and worked each day, functioning as the third-team right tackle. I even had some hope he could be a camp sleeper given his positive athletic profile coming out of Appalachian State.
But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Hardy was one of the worst players in camp. Less problematic as a run blocker but rough as a pass rusher, beat by just about everyone he faced. Kyron Johnson, DeMarvin Leal, guys who are at least a rung above him in the pecking order but losses all the same. There weren’t many strong reps. Hardy is small and lacks length, just 32-inch arms, playing more guard at previous NFL stops before Pittsburgh moved him to his college tackle position. He allowed a sack against the Bills last Saturday night.
There’s just not a lot here and he’ll be an easy cut who is doubtful to make the practice squad.
Camp Grade: D-
TyKeem Doss
Doss signed for the final camp practice. My one and only note is an obvious one. The man is big. Listed at 6050, 380 pounds (a svelte 378 pounds at his Southern Miss Pro Day), he also has 35-inch arms. He spent most of that practice talking to assistant o-line coach Isaac Williams before getting a few left tackle reps to close out the day. But the team wasn’t in pads and there’s certainly not enough to evaluate.
He didn’t appear in the Bills preseason game and will try to sneak into the finale.
Camp Grade: Incomplete
Previous Camp Grades
