The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Will the Steelers miss Kevin Dotson as depth this year?
The Steelers got incredibly fortunate last year in their starting five offensive linemen staying healthy throughout the season. You can bet on it not happening again. While they added Nate Herbig to be the top interior reserve, however, one has to wonder if they won’t need a second interior reserve at some point this season.
Indeed, I would wager that it is at least as likely that a team would need multiple interior reserves during the course of a season than it is that they would not need any. Just think back to Dotson’s rookie season. Matt Feiler, the starter at left guard, got hurt, and then so did B.J. Finney and J.C. Hassenauer.
The Steelers ended up starting John Leglue for multiple games because they had numerous injuries a year later, as well, including Dotson. This is a small sample size, but just goes to show you how easily injuries may accumulate and test your depth.
But having parted with Dotson doesn’t necessarily mean that they suddenly lack depth. At least, provided that they don’t keep Kendrick Green as one of their backups. I defer to Alex Kozora when it comes to scheme fit for Dotson in Pat Meyer’s system.
Still, what are the options for the top backup interior lineman behind Herbig now? Dylan Cook? He just started playing along the offensive line a handful of years ago and started playing the interior line a few weeks ago. Ryan McCollum certainly wouldn’t be as good as Dotson, especially if he had to play guard.
Here’s the deal: with Dotson gone, the Steelers’ number two interior reserve is either going to be Kendrick Green, Dylan Cook, Ryan McCollum, Spencer Anderson, or a player not currently on the roster. I hope they’ve seen enough in Anderson to be confident in putting him into a game this year, because they may have to.
