The Pittsburgh Steelers have been rebuilding its offensive line since the 2022 offseason when Mason Cole and James Daniels were big free agent additions. When the team selected three offensive linemen in the first four rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft, it was clear how serious the franchise was about the trenches. However, there is still one player who is left from the 2022 group, despite battling unpopularity for most of his career: Dan Moore Jr.
Despite trading up in the 2023 NFL Draft for Broderick Jones, Moore started 16 games at left tackle for the Steelers, with Jones taking over at right tackle for Chukwuma Okorafor. Once Pittsburgh made Troy Fautanu their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the bookends of Jones and Fautanu would be the best-case scenario the Steelers had been aiming for. However, after seeing Moore play ahead of Jones during 2023, Mark Kaboly spoke on The Joe Starkey Show about the likelihood of Fautanu starting out 2024 behind Moore on the depth chart.
"It happened last year; why wouldn't it happen again this year? And, now, there would have to be a lot of issues with how Fautanu plays and how he's acclimated, and if they go into this training camp and come out of the training camp and Dan Moore is, you know, obviously better than him [Fautanu]... I mean, why not? I think that they would allow that, I wouldn't want to see that. Personally, I'd like to see Fautanu just grow with this offensive line."
Moore may not bring fan support with him, but he does have plenty of NFL experience after starting 49 games since 2021. Jones will be the starting left tackle when 2024 begins, leaving Fautanu and Moore to battle it out for the right tackle position. While his starting experience may give him a slight head start, the first-round pedigree and potential that Fautanu possesses could spell a short spell at right tackle for Moore in 2024. Kaboly may not sing Moore's praises, but he isn't as down on him as many others may be.
"I keep saying this about Dan Moore; I mean, I think he takes a lot of beating in Pittsburgh over a lot of PFF [Pro Football Focus] grades... He's not terrible. I don't know about how you wanna label your tackle or not, but he's still a quality player... I think he's middle of the road, I don't think he's as bad as you think. Of course, he's not a top-15, top-12 tackle in the league, but he sure as heck ain't number 32 either."
If Moore wants to continue as a starting offensive lineman in Pittsburgh, he has an uphill path ahead of him. Fautanu, along with Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick, represent the culmination of what Pittsburgh set out to do ahead of the 2022 season: build a formidable offensive line. Moore will need to be much better than good to keep his starting role, but at this point, it could simply be a matter of time.
Steelers Unsure About Moore
Jones is taking the left tackle spot, and considering that Moore made his lack of comfortability at right tackle public knowledge, his future could be as a depth player with the Steelers. With Pittsburgh's 2024 training camp approaching, the potential position battles are being analyzed from every possible angle. Joe Starkey asked Kaboly directly during the segment on 93.7 The Fan about the likelihood that Moore will start at right tackle when the 2024 regular season kicks off.
"I'm gonna say no, but I wouldn't totally dismiss it."
It seemed to serve Jones well in 2023 to sit for the first half of the season and then, in Week 8, take over at the right tackle spot to get his feet wet in the league. However, just because that approach worked for the team in 2023 doesn't mean that Fautanu needs the same kind of slow acclimation to the NFL. There haven't been many legitimate opportunities for the media to see Pittsburgh's 2024 first-round pick doing more than basic drills, so when training camp arrives, all eyes will be on the trenches.
The Steelers will be rolling out the game plan for new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, and considering how frustrating and embarrassing Pittsburgh's offensive attack has been since 2021; there is a need for consistency. With the NFL's most expensive defense backing the offense up, Smith should be able to utilize his dual-threat backfield of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. The question is, who will be starting opposite Jones when meaningful football is played?
