The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line has been quite the topic recently. One of the players who’s dealt with that noise the most is their left tackle, Dan Moore Jr.
The Steelers picked Moore up in the fourth round back in the 2021 draft. Ever since then, despite a solid start to his career, his starting spot on the offensive line has been called into question, especially in recent years. Pittsburgh selected tackles in the first round in each of the past two drafts in Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. With that in mind, it seemed like Moore’s days as a starter on the offensive line were numbered.
That’s a lot of pressure for anybody, especially someone like Moore still playing on his rookie contract. Recently speaking with WMBS Radio’s George Von Benko, that pressure doesn’t affect him as much as some might think.
“It’s easy to let noise and flutter get in,” Moore said. “At the end of the day, I just know the type of player that I am. I know the type of person that I am, and I’m gonna smile on the face of things… Every day I just try to focus on getting better. I think with the reps and the experience that I’ve gotten, just built the confidence in me to where now I feel like I’m really coming into myself as a player.”
Moore hasn’t been bad during the first three years of his career, but with Pittsburgh selecting his potential replacements with early picks in each of the past two drafts, he had to feel that his presence on the roster was in question. However, as Moore alludes to here, he can only control the things he can control.
As he noted, the Steelers have given him ample reps. He’s started in at least 16 games in each of his first three seasons in the league, and started all 17 in 2022. He’s been on the field for 95-percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps ever since entering the NFL and has a whopping 3,327 snaps under his belt already.
Perhaps, his availability has been his best ability for the Steelers. Fautanu looked impressive in Week 2 when given the chance to play. However, an injury has put his 2024 season in jeopardy. Furthermore, Jones has his own struggles, including a benching in the Steelers win against the Denver Broncos this past week.
Meanwhile, Moore keeps plugging along. He remains healthy and available while the Steelers need him. He keeps working hard and controlling what he can control, despite the Steelers’ efforts to seemingly replace him.
Dan Moore has had a solid start to the 2024 season. If he can continue his solid play, he might just hold down his presence on the line after all.
