Ask newly drafted guard Kevin Dotson how he would describe being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and one word continues to stand out – crazy. This prospect’s story has all sorts of twists and turns but perhaps nothing beats being able to don the jersey of your favorite team which is feeling that Dotson will soon become all too familiar with.
“The craziest thing about it is (the Steelers) are legit my family’s favorite team. To get picked this is ridiculous. It’s crazy,” Dotson said shortly after being drafted.
In Pittsburgh, Dotson will look to become one of the many successful offensive linemen developed by the franchise. There, he will also be responsible for blocking for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger is a man who the former Louisiana guard thought he would never get the chance to meet. Now, he gets to block for him. His word to describe that feeling is a familiar one – crazy.
“It’s going to be crazy. In my mind I always thought of (Roethlisberger) as someone I would never meet. One of the legends I would never be able to block for. This is going to be a dream to be able to play with players you have looked up to your entire life,” Dotson said.
Dotson’s story seems unimaginable but that seems to be a consistent theme wherever he goes. Playing for Louisiana, the senior guard was named First Team All-American by the Associated Press and was graded as PFF’s top run blocking guard in 2019. Yet, he still did not receive an invite to the NFL Combine.
How could one of the nation’s top run blockers be forgotten? It was an omission that seemed rather crazy but it was also a question that Dotson thought about for a short period of time before coming to peace with it and instead using it for motivation.
“I had to think about it a little bit when I first got the news. After a while, I came to peace with it. I’m not really worried about it. There are a lot of people that go to the combine that don’t get drafted. The combine is not the end all, be all. People blow it out of proportion. It’s not a necessity at the end of the day. Not getting chosen for it definitely puts a big chip on my shoulder though. Are they trying to say that I’m not good enough? It helps me either way,” Dotson told Justin Melo of Draft Wire.
The Steelers did not seem too worried either, making Dotson the first non-combine invite to be drafted this weekend. The lack of a combine invite is now yesterday’s news. Instead, the discussion is now focusing on Dotson joining his childhood team with some even projecting that he could be the best guard to emerge from this year’s draft class.
Emerging from Louisiana to become one of the nation’s most praised offensive linemen? That could be classified as crazy. To then be drafted by an organization that you have followed since childhood? That certainly must be a crazy feeling. These may have all seemed like a wild fever dream for Dotson but rest assured it is now a dream come true.
