Steelers starter just put himself in a vulnerable position at OTA's
Just because the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to select Broderick Jones in April's draft, it doesn't mean he's anointed the starter immediately. In fact, despite his draft positioning and capital investment, Jones will have to prove he is better than incumbent Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle. But Moore may have already thrown in the […]
Just because the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to select Broderick Jones in April's draft, it doesn't mean he's anointed the starter immediately.
In fact, despite his draft positioning and capital investment, Jones will have to prove he is better than incumbent Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle.
But Moore may have already thrown in the towel following his latest comments at organized team activities.
While Broderick Jones is the talk of the town at OTA's and rightfully so when considering he was the Steelers' top choice in April's draft, the position battle everyone pegged as must watch would be between him and Dan Moore Jr for starting left tackle. But when listening to Moore's comments, he may have already conceded to the rookie:
"I have started [working at RT] on my own,” Moore said when speaking to the media on Tuesday. “Nobody asked me to do anything personally. That’s just something I did. What’s done is done. All I can do is focus on myself and control what I can control, and that’s getting better every day. It’s kind of early now in the process to say anything,” Moore said. “I’ll just do what they tell me pretty much to do. Im approaching every single day like I do already, and that’s getting better. It’s a professional business, and they expect me to treat it like a professional.”
Well, I don't know about you, but that doesn't exactly sound like someone that is engaged in a hard-fought battle for the starting left tackle position. And props to Moore for working on right tackle sets on his own.
He knows that in order to be the best teammate possible, he will likely be used as a swing tackle, which is the NFL's version of the NBA's sixth man. That should be applauded, but it makes you wonder if Pittsburgh gave Moore a heads-up prior to selecting Jones.
Either way, while Moore may not have shown the ceiling that you desire for a franchise left tackle, he has vastly outperformed his day three draft position, even earning a performance bonus for his effort on the field in 2022.
So maybe a new role that sees Moore play on both sides of the line in a pinch is the best option for Moore. At the end of the day you want professional's that are durable and team-centric. That's how you build culture, and that's what Dan Moore Jr. is proving.
