LATROBE, Pa. -- The first-round selection of Broderick Jones in the 2023 NFL Draft -- a player for whom Omar Khan traded up to select -- apparently lit a productive fire under Dan Moore Jr.
Moore had wavered as a mediocre run blocker and a decent pass blocker since being drafted in the fourth round in 2021, but that is about what was expected from a tackle drafted on Day 3, where developmental players tend to slide with the aspiration a coaching staff will be able to fix what's lacking and maximize their potential.
On a sunny and muggy first practice at Saint Vincent College, it was that former fourth-round pick who garnered all of the first-team reps at his position during the team portion, with Jones watching closely behind.
The long-term conflicting factor is obvious: The Steelers surely didn't take Jones with the 14th-overall pick for him to sit the bench long-term. Nobody -- including Moore -- is naive to that. But, as Khan said at his press conference midday Thursday, Jones will have to earn that starting spot, just as any other rookie does in Mike Tomlin's locker room.
But Khan also acknowledged there is a reason why Jones was taken 14th.
Moore is still working on himself and is doing all he can to clinch that starting job that has been his since entering the league.
"Just trying to keep my confidence high, trying to get better every day. That's my mindset," Moore told me before taking the field Thursday. "(My confidence is) super high, man, definitely. Being in the third year, everything's starting to slow down for me. Just starting to feel that sense of urgency, that development into my role. Feeling good."
There will come a time where Jones will start over Moore. It's a matter of "when" and not "if." But, that doesn't mean Moore won't be going down without a fight for his livelihood as the Steelers' starting left tackle. And, it's not like we haven't recently seen the Steelers draft a highly coveted prospect in the first round only for him to ride the pine for the season opener (and three more weeks to follow) — that's how Kenny Pickett's career started out.
By this point, the Steelers have gone through OTAs and a mandatory minicamp in terms of developing and organizing who-goes-where-and-when for position groupings. There are position battles in every training camp and none of them will be, or ever were, settled on the first day of practice.
Is there stock to seeing Moore running with the ones and Jones running with the twos? Tomlin didn't seem to think so:
"I'm not looking at a lot of those type of confrontations because they're not significant in terms of what we're doing in a football-like environment right now," Tomlin said after practice. "We're skill-guys related and things of that nature when you're in helmets because you're playing with a governor, and that governor really minimizes the impact of line play, so I'd be making something up if I gave you that."
Nonetheless, what happened and how it will go down is this: Moore opened training camp as the first-team left tackle, and Jones opened as the second-team left tackle. This will be a major topic of conversation over these three weeks in Latrobe, or at least until Jones fully takes over.
"I don't really like to say any competition pushes me," Moore said. "I try to push myself and exceed expectations that way. If I need competition to push me, I'm not a professional. That's the type of mindset I'm going in with."
So much more to soak up from Day 1:
• While we do not have to meticulously and painstakingly mark down every throw made by all of the quarterbacks like we had to last year, there is still going to be a consistent monitoring of the Steelers' QB1.
Pickett had a nice day in the two hours on the field, and particularly in the 11-on-11 sessions. Pickett completed four of five passes on his first drive against the first-team defense, with the lone incompletion being a Patrick Peterson pass breakup on a throw intended for George Pickens. His first completion was a strike over the middle of the field to a crossing Pat Freiermuth, and he found Connor Heyward towards the boundary to end that drive.
Pickett completed both of his attempts during his final 11-on-11 drive: A dump-off to Najee Harris and a completion underneath to Allen Robinson. Harris and Jaylen Warren registered a carry each on that same drive.
• Joey Porter Jr., who signed his rookie contract Tuesday before reporting to camp Wednesday, played a couple of snaps with the first-team defense. Peterson slid into the slot during those plays.
Porter spoke before Thursday's practice about coming to his first training camp and the advice he received from his dad, Joey Porter Sr:
"He always just tells me to be me at the end of the day," Porter said. "They got me [for] being me, they know who I am, they know how I play, so I don't have to really change anything about playing my style. That's why I'm walking in with a lot of confidence, like I usually do."
• Diontae Johnson came up gimpy, favoring his left leg after Pickett connected with him for a corner route for a 19-yard gain along the near sideline. Johnson went back on the field for his next rep, though, after working it out in front of a trainer.
• Safety Elijah Riley picked off Mason Rudolph in the 11-on-11 portion.
• During a seven-on-seven period, Pickett looked deep down the right sideline for Calvin Austin, but Austin was blanketed by Porter and the pass fell incomplete. Porter did a nice job of staying with Austin on his route and closing in as the ball began to flutter to the ground.
• Minkah Fitzpatrick did not participate in team drills, but there is absolutely zero concern for injury. This was more about Tomlin and his staff giving other players they need to see get reps.
"Nothing of any significance," Tomlin said. "Sometimes when we know a lot about guys, we minimize them in an effort to get to see others. Probably didn't see a lot of Diontae, probably didn't see a significant amount of Cam (Heyward). There's going to be a lot of that in this process. We've got 90 guys out here that we're working to get to know. Some of them that we really know like a Minkah, sometimes we minimize them in an effort to see others."
• Cory Trice Jr. worked with the second-team defense on a few plays. Meanwhile, Duke Dawson earned some playing time with the ones as a slot cornerback.
Again, as Tomlin stressed with regards to Moore and Jones, he said not to take too much stock in that.
"Man, don't look too much into what groups people are running with at this juncture. You're going to lead yourself down a bad path," Tomlin said. "I wasn't involved in the discussion in terms of who we send out there first because I really didn't care. We're just trying to get to know people and we're going to continue to roll. Eli made a play at the nickel position, Duke's working at the nickel position, (Chandon Sullivan is) working at the nickel position. At some point we're going to put Pat P. at the nickel position. Don't pay too much attention to the depth at this juncture. Just being honest."
So, we'll leave it for another juncture ...
• For more coverage of training camp from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, follow along with our Steelers team feed for around-the-clock news and analysis from DK and me.
