Steelers All 90: Dan Moore Battling for Playing Time, Preparing for What’s Next

Dan Moore Jr. started all 17 games at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, and in fact, he started each of his 33 games played at the NFL level. After the Steelers drafted Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Moore’s starting job is in jeopardy.

Moore clearly struggled in his second professional season but was not actually rated as the team’s worst offensive lineman. That honor went to Moore’s tackle partner, Chukwuma Okorafor. Moore finished with a 62.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus while Okorafor finished with a 61.2 overall rating.

Earlier in the offseason, Steelers general manager Omar Khan expressed his belief that Moore can play multiple positions along the offensive line. Moore took those words and went to work at right tackle in his own free time.

“I’m confident he can play multiple positions, I believe that,” Khan said. “Our job is to bring in as much competition as possible and then when it all shakes out, I’m confident that the top five offensive linemen will be playing.”

Statistically, Moore was better at left tackle than Okorafor was at right tackle, so it is a possibility that Moore can compete for the starting right tackle job once Jones is ready to start.

“I have started (working at right tackle) on my own,” Moore said. “Nobody asked me to do anything personally, that’s just something I did.”

Moore started with the first-team line at the Steelers OTAs last month but as he stated, who knows what that means with a first-round rookie looming in the room. Jones is likely to start at left tackle at some point this season as the team traded up in the first round to get him.

“I don’t know, it’s early to tell if that (first-team reps) means anything,” Moore said. “Listen, I just do what they tell me. It’s too early in the process for anything else.”

Even if Moore loses his job at left tackle and cannot make the switch to right tackle, he will still play a big role on the Steelers’ offense as he would likely convert to the team’s swing tackle. Moore also has the chance to just stay put on the left side as one Steeler, Kevin Dotson, believes that Jones will end up sitting out his rookie season despite being taken in the first round.

Couple Dotson’s statement with the fact that injuries happen all of the time in the NFL and it is clear that Moore is likely to still play a fair share of snaps regardless of who is named the starter.

65 • Dan Moore Jr., Tackle, Texas A&M
6-foot-5, 315 pounds, 24 years old, 3rd Season

Acquired: The Steelers drafted Moore with the 128th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Last Year: Moore started all 17 games at left tackle for the Steelers last season. He played a career-high 1,160 snaps as he allowed seven sacks and was flagged a staggering 10 times. Moore not only allowed seven sacks again in his second season, but he also got worse with the penalties as his numbers doubled from his rookie season despite playing only one more game.

He also allowed 39 total quarterback pressures including 10 quarterback hits.

Dan Moore Jr. looks on as the Steelers face the Ravens on Jan. 1, 2022 in Baltimore. (Mitchell Northam / Steelers Now)

Career: After the Steelers selected Moore in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, he was named the team’s starting left tackle prior to Week 1 which was the first time that a Steelers rookie started at left tackle since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Moore started all 16 games that he played in as a rookie. He played 1,079 snaps and allowed seven sacks during the 2021 season. He also committed five penalties and earned a PFF rating of 57.8 as a rookie.

In his NFL career, Moore has played in and started all 33 games at left tackle.

College: Coming out of Beaumont West Brook Senior High School, Moore was a three-star rated prospect and decided to commit to the University of Texas A&M. As a freshman, Moore appeared in eight games and started the final three of them. He played 84 snaps on the offensive line as a true freshman and allowed zero sacks.

In 2018, Moore won the job and started all 13 of the Aggies’ games at left tackle. He played a career-high 905 snaps and allowed six sacks while committing five penalties as a true sophomore.

As a junior in 2019, Moore again started all 13 games of the season. He finished the season allowing only three sacks but his penalty troubles that are present in his professional game began to show as he committed a staggering nine penalties.

Prior to his senior campaign, Moore was named to the Outland Trophy Watchlist and the preseason coaches’ All-SEC third team. He was also named a team captain prior to the season. Moore did in fact step up as a senior and started all 10 games for the Aggies in 2020. On his 628 snaps, he allowed only one sack and committed just three penalties while earning a career-best 69.3 rating by Pro Football Focus. Following the year, Moore earned second-team All-SEC honors for his great senior season.

In total, Moore played in 44 games at Texas A&M while starting 39 of them. He played a total of 2,412 snaps on the offensive line. Moore allowed 10 sacks through his four seasons as an Aggie.

Salary cap and future: Dan Moore is entering the third year of his standard four-year rookie contract and will cost $1.11 million against the Steelers’ cap space in 2023. His salary is set at $940,000 with a $174,475 bonus for this upcoming season. Moore is under contract with the Steelers through the 2024 season.

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