Pittsburgh Steelers guard Kevin Dotson might be facing the most important training camp of his career in 2023. He was a Week One starter in both 2022 and 2023 and did not miss a single game this past season. However, the team felt that the offensive line needed an upgrade after a subpar season in the running game and signed guards Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig during the offseason.
That puts Dotson’s starting position in jeopardy — and potentially his roster spot. When he met with the media after reporting to training camp on Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., he was asked about what he worked on after OTAs and minicamp, per a video from Steelers.com.
“Just on my focus, that’s about it,” Dotson said. “I feel like I was pretty good. Overall, I guess the mental aspect is probably my strongest (area) that I need to work on.”
There’s no doubt that Dotson is feeling the pressure of the new additions in light of his play last season. He was flagged 12 times in 2022, with one declined, for a total of 75 yards lost, per NFLpenalties.com. Penalties are often the result of a mental lapse, whether it’s a loss of concentration or frustration. He was penalized four times for false starts, which could easily be categorized as loss of concentration. Interestingly enough, his one declined penalty was an unnecessary roughness call in Pittsburgh’s Week Five matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
However, the biggest aspect of Dotson’s mental focus might correlate to the signings of Seumalo and Herbig. Matthew Marczi dove into how Dotson spoke at OTAs about his future in Pittsburgh, and he definitely did not sound positive. However, he is in training camp and has a chance to prove himself worthy of a roster spot, either with the Steelers or another team.
Dotson’s ability to stay focused and engaged without getting caught up in feeling like he’s on his way out of Pittsburgh will go a long way toward being on the Week One roster. For how, he sounds like at the opening of camp that he’s aware of that and is prepared to stay focused.
