Third-year guard Kevin Dotson has not exactly been opposed to divulging information thus far this offseason. The was the first player to more or less confirm that the Pittsburgh Steelers were operating with Mitch Trubisky as their starting quarterback. He was also open about the fact that the left guard is basically the only position on the offensive line up for grabs, and that Kendrick Green is competing with him to take that job away. Not that he has a problem with that.
“I love competition”, he said a short time back, via Andrew Limberg for 93.7 The Fan. “It brings out the best in you and I want to see the best of myself. In college I really didn’t have anyone backing me up. I got the big head in college because anyone behind me I really didn’t have any fights against”.
Green was drafted in the third round in 2021, a year after the Steelers drafted Dotson in the fourth round. Dotson started four games during his rookie season, but only as an injury replacement, while Green was plugged into the starting lineup at center after the retirement of Maurkice Pouncey.
But Dotson agrees that Green has a better shot at making an impact in the NFL by moving to guard, where he is most comfortable and where he’s played the vast majority of his football before arriving in the NFL.
“I think this is his more natural spot”, Dotson said as he competes with Green for the left guard job, and is not surprised by the Steelers’ decision to move him there after having signed Mason Cole to play center via free agency. “It’s natural to think if they have someone for center”, he said. “It would be a natural move”.
But while he may feel more comfortable playing at guard, there are other concerns. Is he big enough to play guard at the NFL level? Part of the reason there were concerns about drafting him in the first place stemmed from fears that he wasn’t big enough to do just that—but moving him to center would better protect him.
Green is regarded as one of the Steelers’ physically strongest offensive linemen, but there wasn’t a lot of tape that really showed that strength translating on the field. I’m talking more about him getting push rather than counting the number of times he was put on his back, since that is even more about technique than moving people from one point to another.
But, having already struggled to start at center, and having already acquired another center, it is a natural choice for the coaching staff to make to allow Green to compete to start at guard. If he wins the competition, great, that means he’s the best man for the job. If he doesn’t, he can still be a swing backup for both guard and center—where he’ll then compete with J.C. Hassenauer to be the top backup.
