Ben Roethlisberger: Dan Moore Ready for Nick Bosa

Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr. will have the immense challenge of blocking reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year and all-world pass rusher Nick Bosa on Sunday in the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Moore has shut down All-Pro Myles Garrett often in his career, but this will be his first time playing Bosa. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who played with Moore for one season, believes he’ll be up for the challenge.

“This is going to be a huge challenge for Dan and I think he’s excited,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbhalin podcast. “Go back, you heard it here first people around the world, I said before they drafted Broderick Jones, ‘No, Dan Moore is a dude.’ Dan Moore is a guy that I loved as a quarterback because he cared. I mean, obviously, he’s very good. I think he felt that maybe he got slighted. He had good motivation. I was like he’s going to be a really good player. Like, he’s going to be a really good left tackle in this league. They go draft a guy and I’m like, ‘Don’t sleep on this guy yet.'”

Roethlisberger thinks it’s not even a conversation right now that Broderick Jones will play over Moore, but he did acknowledge that Jones is a first-round pick so that could change things. Roethlisberger asked former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, who was a guest on his podcast, what will it take for Jones to get on the field, one bad game or two?

Batch thinks Moore would need to have two bad games to lose his starting spot. Batch isn’t surprised that Moore is starting, however.

“It didn’t surprise me at all. I said the only reason if Dan is not starting in Week 1, is because the business of the NFL has taken over. That’s it,” Batch explained. “When you look at where Dan is at, it lit a fire underneath him. This is a guy who came out of Texas A&M, didn’t really give much of a chance. But he earned that job last year and played well. And here is now building on what he did last year, but of course, when you have a first-rounder at that particular (position), the business of the NFL is going to happen at some point. For him, you just hope it doesn’t happen this year. But, the way that he went out into camp and literally opened up that hole for Jaylen Warren (on that 62-yard touchdown run against the Buffalo Bills). That right there solidified it. There hasn’t been a lot of big runs that have happened in a long time on this team, and ultimately when you run behind him it’s hard to give up that job or make a move in that particular perspective. Kudos to Dan, man. Great job in this camp.”

Moore transformed his body this offseason by implementing a new training regimen. Moore hired a chef, changed his diet completely, ate even more than he did before, and changed the types of lifts and exercises he did to build muscle. Roethlisberger is looking forward to Moore showing everyone what he’s made of against Bosa.

“Yeah, I’m so happy for him. So proud of him,” Roethlisberger said. “I know he’ll step up to it. Now, listen, Bosa is one of the best, but it will be a good challenge for him.”

Roethlisberger thinks there’s no way that Jones will sit in 2024, even if Moore balls out this year. There could be a possibility that Chuks Okorafor could be the odd man out. Roethlisberger sees it as an interesting scenario on the horizon. It could even rise up this year.

“We said it here first again, be prepared in 18-19 weeks, if Dan Moore is playing at a high level. Let’s see what they do,” Roethlisberger said.