Steelers Zach Banner’s injury opens up opportunity for Dan Moore Jr.

Starting Right Tackle Zach Banner was placed on Injured Reserve ahead of the start of the season, which opens up a huge opportunity for rookie tackle Dan Moore Jr.

Dan Moore Jr. was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M by the Steelers. When they selected him, the hope was that he would develop into the team’s long-term starting left tackle, but likely would not start out of the gate.

However, Moore impressed during the preseason this year, showing promise of his potential being tapped into earlier than expected. With the Steelers’ offensive line having many question marks around it, many fans have clamored for Moore to be named the starter at one of the two tackle positions.

Despite his impressive preseason, the expectation was that the team would still start Chukwuma Okorafor at left tackle and Zach Banner at right tackle to open the season. This was made evident after the team began giving Moore reps at both left and right tackle, showing they were likely preparing for him to open the season as a swing tackle, and to step in if either starter got hurt or wasn’t playing up to expectations.

Transitioning to play tackle in the NFL is not an easy task, so for the Steelers to already give him the challenge of learning both tackle positions on the fly, shows just how much confidence the team has in him.

Now that Banner is injured it is likely that Moore starts at left tackle to begin the season as this is the position he is more familiar with after playing it in college. This also allows Okorafor to return to right tackle, which is where he started last season when he stepped in as Zach Banner’s replacement after Banner tore his ACL in the Week 1 game against the Giants.

Banner will not be eligible to return until at least Week 4, which gives the team a few weeks to find out what they have in both Moore and Okorafor this year. Okorafor was likely to be on a short leash as the Steelers’ starting left tackle and the same will likely be said while he starts at right tackle after Pittsburgh opted to resign Zach Banner this offseason.

5 interesting decisions on Steelers initial 53-man depth chart

The Pittsburgh Steelers have cut their roster down to just 53 players, but there are questions that now need to be answered on their initial depth chart.

While Moore’s job is not locked in, if he plays well at the beginning of the season he could lock himself in as the team’s starting left tackle for this season, as well as in the future. This would serve as a huge boost to the team, as they are in desperate need of some continuity and athleticism upfront in order to not only protect Ben Roethlisberger in the passing game but also to open up some running lanes for Najee Harris in the running game.