Dan Moore eager to prove Steelers wise in Year 2

Like the rest of Steelers Nation back in March, Dan Moore Jr. was paying attention when the team agreed to terms with a veteran offensive lineman on the first day of unrestricted free agency. He also took note when the Steelers added another starting-caliber offensive lineman from another team in Day 2 of the UFA period.

“We knew we had to get better,” Moore said last week. “We knew we were going to make some improvements. We knew we were going to add to the group.”

What wasn’t as known on the outside was if during the early-spring free agent frenzy the Steelers would add a proven starter at offensive tackle.

They never did, and there’s little other way to interpret that than the organization has unwavering faith in Moore to again handle the left tackle job in 2022. After the final practice of the first week of organized team activities sessions this past Thursday, Moore acknowledged he saw the lack of a high-profile tackle acquisition in free agency and/or the draft as a tacit show of confidence in him by the coaching staff.

“I do,” Moore said, “but at the same time you got to keep working. Obviously I came in and won a job, so somebody can easily come in and do that so I have to keep working.”

Taken No. 128 overall in the fourth round of last year’s draft, Moore ideally would have spent his rookie season as something of a developmental “redshirt” learning the nuances of the pro game behind projected starters at tackle Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner.

Moore repped as a swing tackle, generally taking more snaps on the right side, throughout last season’s summer workouts and training camp. He played two preseason games on each side of the line, the final two as a right tackle.

But four days after the Steelers’ preseason finale and less than two weeks before their regular-season opener, Moore suddenly was taking first-team reps at left tackle. Though Banner’s lack of a full recovery from a torn ACL was the most significant factor in the decision, it also was a compliment to Moore that as a rookie fourth-round pick the coaches turned to him as a replacement in lieu of, for example , a veteran such as Joe Haeg or even an outside acquisition.

“I think the expectation was to play eventually,” Moore said last week, looking back to his rookie year. “Not knowing when (though), and not knowing for sure.”

Steelers offensive lineman Dan Moore was one of only four fourth-round picks who functioned as a primary starter for his team as a rookie in 2021. https://t.co/l09cOfanxR

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) January 24, 2022

Moore said learning on-the-fly as a mid-round draft choice was “tough.” It certainly had its growing pains, as the Steelers’ struggles in the running game can attest. Most objective quantitative and qualitative analysis pegged the Steelers as having one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL last season.

Evaluating Moore , it’s probably fair to say he exceeded expectations as a rookie but that he better improve if he expects to be a long-term NFL starter. Pro Football Focus graded Moore as the 50th–best offensive tackle out of 55 qualifiers, the fourth-worst in run blocking and 12th-worst in pass blocking. Despite Ben Roethlisberger’s penchant for making quick passes (no QB in the NFL, on average, had a faster time from snap to throw), only 16 offensive tackles were worse in pass-blocking efficiency than Moore (96.1%). PFF reports he allowed seven sacks, 11 QB hits and 30 hurries last season.

Still, for a fourth-round rookie who wasn’t expected to start until after the preseason was completed, Moore showed enough that the Steelers provided little competition for him to start at left tackle in Year 2.

That Moore held the left-tackle gig for 16 consecutive games last season and then started the Steelers’ playoff loss in Kansas City says something. It also provides hope 2021 was a springboard of better things to come.

“Just getting that first (year starting) under your belt, now you are going in with the confidence and the experience,” Moore said. “I just know what to expect.”

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