Dan Moore Jr. did grow considerably as the Steelers' starting left tackle in his rookie season, but was that enough for the Steelers to overlook the offensive tackles in the 2022 NFL Draft class?
That question forces the Steelers to consider whether prospects who should be available when the Steelers' 20th overall pick in the first round comes up, as highly touted offensive tackle prospects like Northern Iowa's Trevor Penning and Ohio State's Nicholas Petite-Frere. Other tackles with higher pedigrees like Ikem Ekwonu, Evan Neal and Charles Cross are expected to be gone long before the Steelers' pick.
Moore certainly became less of a liability and more of an asset to the Steelers' offense as the season wore on, but his development would be key in how Kevin Colbert should approach the Steelers' offensive tackle position in the offseason.
Moore was marked to be responsible for 7 of the Steelers' 28 allowed sacks on the season according to Pro Football Focus. He also allowed 48 pressures, the seventh-most of all offensive tackles in the NFL in his rookie season. Moore was drafted to be a physically dominant offensive tackle who would add a mean edge to the Steelers' run blocking unit that was essentially rebuilt during the season.
While playing at Texas A&M, Moore was known as a major run blocking offensive tackle who could bully defensive linemen and get to linebackers. That was the element of Moore's game that was evident all season long. Watch this run against the Broncos when Moore not only pushed his man off the ball, but chipped off his defensive lineman to get to the linebacker and take away a potential tackler for Najee Harris:
That's the element that Moore felt the most natural in for the Steelers in his first year.
When it came to using Moore's 6-foot-5, 315 lbs. frame, Matt Canada called several plays that allowed Moore to play the aggressive style of run blocking, But at left tackle, Moore's responsibility as the primary pass protector for Ben Roethlisberger's blindside was a major concern in several games. Moore was solely responsible for at least four pressures or more in five separate games during his rookie season.
Moore allowed seven pressures against the Bengals' in the Steelers' week three game, but it was his performance against Myles Garrett in the Steelers' week eight showdown with the Browns that earned him a 0.0 pass blocking grade against by PFF. Officially, Moore only allowed four pressures on Garrett and limited him to just one sack.
But a big reason for Moore not giving up more sacks was how quickly Roethlisberger was getting rid of the ball as part of the Steelers' game plan to neutralize the Browns' pass rush. Still, Moore showed he needed to improve in his pass protection reps as the season continued.
Watch how easily Garrett sped past Moore to force a sack on Roethlisberger. Garrett took such a wide-angled attack that he had a beeline for Roethlisberger which Moore would only stop if he took a deep enough drop in his initial footwork to engage Garrett on even ground. That didn't happen on this sack, as you see Garrett establish outside leverage and bully his way past Moore:
But as the Steelers' season continued, so grew the confidence in the team's rookies. Harris was building his way to be one of the NFL's most dynamic running backs while Pat Freiermuth was building towards being the team's ultimate red zone target. Kendrick Green tried to be the team's center, even if that didn't work out, and Tre Norwood worked hard to find a spot at safety. Moore fought hard to show he was capable of growth from the fourth round pick the Steelers got him for.
Watch Moore's growth against Garrett in the Steelers' rematch with the Browns in week 17 when he only allowed three pressures and a single hurry during the game with no sacks allowed.
In the previous rep, Moore failed to get a deep enough initial drop step to give him the necessary ground to protect against Garrett. But look at how he did when Garrett tried a similar rush and then tried to spin to Moore's inside shoulder. This showing was a good display of Moore's growing skills as a pass protector:
And as Moore's skills as a pass protector improved, his skills as run blocker improved as well.
Most of Moore's early success in bullying people off the line came from teaming up with Kevin Dotson when the two double-teamed opponents. But the Steelers needed to see him dominate opposing offensive linemen on his own as the season continued, or at least win at the point of attack on his own.
Watch how Moore did a good job to maintain his edge as the left tackle and create the running lane for Harris on a play, simply because he still didn't give up on the block:
Moore made considerable progress in his rookie season. But it was nowhere near enough for the Steelers to stop considering drafting a top offensive linemen at tackle, nor was it enough to provide confidence for whoever takes the lead at quarterback next season to trust that Moore can take on the NFL's top pass rushers and consistently win.
Moore's progress was positive, but it's his lack of consistency as a run blocker and a pass protector that will make Colbert and Mike Tomlin keep looking to upgrade the position if the opportunity arises. If the top three offensive tackles are gone from the 2022 NFL Draft class, the Steelers could still look at projected prospects to fall in the late first round or in the second round as upgrades over Moore.
But if no suitable left tackle becomes outweighs other positional prospects in the NFL Draft and the Steelers need Moore to start again, he should be available to at least be a decent offensive tackle.
Still, without Roethlisberger, the Steelers need the offensive line to be dominant. Not adequate, not decent, but actually dominant. That's where depending on Moore could backfire on the Steelers' plans as they become a different kind of roster. And the pending status of Chukwuma Okorafor heading to free agency opens up room for Colbert and Tomlin to consider a complete overhaul at offensive tackle.
If Moore can prove to be part of that group moving forward, it would be a change of pace for the Steelers with middle round draft picks on their line instead of the first and second round picks that built its previous line like Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Marcus GIlbert. But either way, it should not preclude the Steelers from drafting an offensive tackle that ranks high among this year's class .
