The Pittsburgh Steelers have let go of quite a few former starters this offseason.
They’ve moved on from a center, wide receiver, punter, cornerback, and quarterback who all started games last season.
That seemed to be the end of their major cuts, but it seems there could be one more starter from the 2023 roster that doesn’t make it to the first game of 2024.
During an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo revealed that he believes starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. might not be on the roster next season depending on how the draft plays out.
“They had to start him as a rookie. He wasn’t very good, got a little bit better each and every year, but he’s still not a guy that I want as my blindside protector,” Fittipaldo said (via Steelers Depot). I think he’s a guy who has the respect of Mike Tomlin and Pat Meyer. I think he’s worked hard to achieve that. But he’s certainly a guy who could be over-recruited and he’s a guy who could potentially not be on this roster in 2024 if things break a certain way with the draft and how these guys come along.”
A Tough Three Years
After being selected in round four back in 2021, Moore immediately worked his way into the starting lineup for the Steelers as their left tackle, but his quick introduction into the starting lineup didn’t translate into quick success.
Moore struggled as a rookie. In 1079 snaps he committed 5 penalties while allowing 7 sacks on 46 total pressures, according to PFF.
It didn’t get much better in his second season as he committed 10 penalties, which was tied for the eighth most in the league, and allowed another 7 sacks.
Moore cleaned up is penalty issue in 2023. He only committed 3 penalties in 951 snaps.
However, his pass blocking struggles continued. Moore allowed 8 sacks on 55 pressures.
The one bright spot in 2023 was that he actually did play pretty well in the playoff loss to the Bills, not committing a penalty and only allowing a single pressure in 45 pass blocking snaps.
So far this offseason Moore has been able to hold onto his spot on the team despite his struggles, but that seems likely to change during this year’s draft.
Steelers Likely to Draft a Replacement
There isn’t much that’s clear about the Steelers’ plans for the draft this year.
They have a number of different approaches they could take early in the draft.
Center, offensive tackle, and wide receiver are all spots they could try to address in round one.
The expectation is that their first pick is going to be an offensive lineman. The betting line on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Steelers’ first pick to be an offensive lineman has gotten even larger recently, moving to -215.
That could be either a center or an offensive tackle, but lately it has begun to seem that tackle should be the move.
This year’s draft class is very strong at center and it’s a position that isn’t highly valued in the draft. That should mean the Steelers will have the chance to find their starting center in round two.
Meanwhile, the top talents at tackle should mostly be gone by the end of round one.
Who the Steelers would take with this pick is unclear. Amarius Mims, JC Latham, Troy Fautanu, and Taliese Fuaga all look like possibilities depending on how the teams picking ahead of the Steelers value each tackle.
Even Olumuyiwa Fashanu fell to them in a recent mock draft.
The pick doesn’t even need to be a left tackle as the Steelers could take somebody to play on the right and move Broderick Jones back to his natural position on the left in his second season.
Whoever ends up at the top of their draft board when it’s time for their first pick, it would be very surprising if the Steelers didn’t have a new starting left tackle by the end of the draft.
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Steelers Insider Believes Disappointing Starter Could Still Be Cut