Former Steelers OT Max Starks Assured Listeners That The Most Despised Player of 2021 Is An Emerging Talent

The 2022 season was a rollercoaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans. They had some definite lows at the beginning and then some real highs as they nearly made the playoffs. There were also some surprises along the way. 

One of the biggest surprises had to be the improvement of the offensive line. The Steelers' offensive line had been abysmal in 2021. They ranked near or at the bottom of every list. PFF ranked them 17th in passing, 24th in running and 29th in yards before contact. Then quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was having to throw the ball quicker than he ever had before. When the 2022 season began it appeared to be more of the same.

Fortunately, that did not last. The Steelers made a well-documented turnaround after their bye week and one of the most improved areas was that offensive line. 

Is Steelers' Dan Moore Jr. Getting A Bum Rap?

If the OL took heat for their collective performance then Dan Moore Jr. found himself in front of a verbal firing squad each week. Now former Steelers lineman and two-time Super Bowl champ, Max Starks is coming to Moore's defense. 

Moore was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 draft and wound up being thrown to the wolves as a rookie. An injury to Zach Banner meant that Moore stepped into the starting left tackle role, much sooner than would normally be the case.  

Not only was Moore not ready, but the line also wasn't ready to take on a rookie. This wasn't a situation where a rookie joined a solid line or even a functional line, he was joining what was arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL at that time. Moore gave up seven sacks and ended the season with a PFF grade of 57.8. 

Moore became the target of much of the fans' anger and frustration. Twitter looked like a medieval town where villagers waved torches and pitchforks and called for his head on a spike. Fortunately for Moore, head coach Mike Tomlin doesn't make his decisions based on the whims of Steeler Nation. 

Instead, Tomlin kept Moore as a starter and brought in new offensive line coach Pat Meyer and some veteran players like James Daniels and Mason Cole. These changes helped Moore improve quite a bit. In fact, he improved so much that most agree he will be the starting LT in 2023. 

That's where Starks comes in. Starks spoke on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh to Chris Mueller and Andrew Fillipponi and said that he saw the growth in Moore during 2022. He agrees there is still more work to be done, one example is penalty reduction, Moore had five in 2021 and 10 in 2022. 

"I thought Dan got consistently better. I think he still has a lot of room to grow, which is a great thing, that he hasn't tapped out his potential. I thought he had his worrisome moments early on, got a little overwhelmed at different points. But I think he's growing. I think he's getting a lot better, and getting more comfortable in his skin."

Starks noted that people are forgetting Moore's original role was likely just to provide depth. You don't expect your fourth-round pick to jump in their rookie season and play at a Pro Bowl level. 

"Now he knows it's Kenny Pickett I think he will be more adept and ready to go, and he's cleaning up his footwork. His footwork was really sloppy his rookie year, cleaned up a little bit and now he's starting to understand how to study, how to prepare for opponents, how to have more ticks in the bag to be able to combat a lot of the things these elite EDGE rushers like to bring. I thought he learned. I watched him learn on the fly and watched him get better."

Starks says that seeing the continued growth in Moore should be encouraging to fans and to the organization. It makes sense for the Steelers to keep Moore at LT and develop him. That way they can use a draft pick for an area of greater need and there is no shortage of those.