Dan Moore Jr. was living a dream last season. But that doesn’t mean it was easy.

“It was extremely difficult. To put that in words, (how difficult it was), wouldn’t do it enough justice,” Moore said of starting at left tackle as a rookie fourth-round pick.

“But I was blessed enough with the opportunity and in the Steelers having the confidence in me that allowed me to stay in the position so far (in 2022), and definitely all I want to do is improve on last year.”

Moore was good enough as a rookie that the Steelers did not make any meaningful attempt to upgrade at left tackle over the offseason, all but handing him the job for 2022. That’s significant because the team demoted its two other young starters from last year: 2021 third-round rookie center Kendrick Green and 2020 fourth-round guard Kevin Dotson lost their jobs late last season and this summer are in a “two dogs, one bone” scenario to play left guard.

But Moore watched all offseason as the Steelers went through free agency and then the draft without making a starter-caliber signing or drafting a player who could play left tackle.

“I was just happy that they trusted me last year to play that position,” said Moore, a three-year SEC starter at left tackle for Texas A&M. “And they keep faith in me now to keep playing it, for sure I’m grateful.”

Dan Moore on how it was challenging to start in the NFL at left tackle as a 4th-rd rookie but how that benefits him going forward pic.twitter.com/PjTOOpgrtu

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) August 2, 2022

Moore said he “100% feels more comfortable at left tackle” than he does on the right side. He similarly feels massively more comfortable at the NFL level this camp than last year at this time.

Coach Mike Tomlin also is looking for bigger things from Moore this season.

“It’s reasonable for him to take a significant step,” Tomlin said. “He’s a second-year guy. He’s been through this process. Not only that, he’s got awesome experience from his first lap around the track. He’s been displaying that, so it’s exciting to watch that growth continue.”

During the vast majority of 2021 training camp, Moore was repping on both sides of the offensive line as the swing tackle. But when Zach Banner was not physically ready to regain his starting gig at right tackle, the Steelers moved Chuks Okorafor back to that spot and effectively handed the left tackle job to Moore less than two weeks before the regular season began.

“It was definitely humbling, coming from college and not really knowing the speed of the game, the power of guys,” Moore said. “Being able to feel that first hand, right off the bat, it was a blessing for sure but a challenge as well. But it definitely made me better.”

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Moore was part of what on a whole was one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines last season, by most objective measures. The Steelers in free agency signed new starters at right guard (James Daniels) and center (Mason Cole) and re-signed right tackle Okorafor.

Moore has taken every single first-team rep at left tackle during his second training camp. He expects to be better in Year 2 than he was in starting 16 games as a rookie.

“I knew I would make a big jump, based off it’s kind of natural anyone would,” Moore said. “You do something once, obviously the second time around you feel that much better. And if you don’t, then probably won’t be there for a long time. So I’m just taking that, grasping it and not letting that opportunity slip past me.”

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