A disappointing 2021 season overall for Pittsburgh Steelers’ left guard Kevin Dotson has many of the national outlets down on the promising third-year guard. Dotson, who jumped into the starting role in 2020 after an injury to Matt Feiler, struggled with his own injuries during his sophomore season, resulting in him playing just nine games.
Now, ahead of a pivotal third season, Dotson has to rebuild his stock, at least according to Pro Football Focus, which placed the Steelers’ projected left guard in the fifth tier of its offensive guard rankings Wednesday.
Dotson finds himself in the fifth tier, labeled as the “Better Pass Pro Than Run Blocker” tier, alongside the likes of Washington Commanders’ guard Andrew Norwell, Philadelphia Eagles’ guard Isaac Seumalo, Arizona Cardinals’ guard Justin Pugh, and Denver Broncos’ guard Dalton Risner.
“Kevin Dotson’s time in Pittsburgh amounts to almost 1,000 snaps of action now across two seasons, and his pass protection has been elite over that time (aided by Ben Roethlisberger’s league-fastest average time to throw),” PFF’s Sam Monson writes. “Conversely, he has PFF run-blocking grades of 55.1 and then 60.8 on his resume.”
As a rookie, Dotson graded out at an 87.2 as a pass blocker in 219 pass block snaps, allowing just one hurry and one pressure in 13 games as a rookie. While he dealt with injury issues throughout his second season in the league, Dotson saw his pass block grade drop from 87.2 to  78.4 in 354 pass blocking snaps. In his second season, Dotson allowed three sacks, two hits, and five hurries.
Despite seeing a decline in his pass blocking grade, he saw an increase in his run blocking, going from a 55.1 as a rookie to a 60.8 in his second season. Though he has a lot to prove in 2022 overall, there’s still plenty of promise with Dotson overall, especially after seeing how strong he was as a rookie in 2020.
He’ll have an uphill battle on his hands in training camp too, as the Steelers added Mason Cole and James Daniels in free agency, and are reportedly eyeing a position change for 2021 third-round draft pick Kendrick Green.
