As should be no surprise at the conclusion of a particularly active offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers were sellers while final cuts were being made. They moved two offensive linemen, recouping or improving draft positioning over the next two years in doing so.
The first move made was to send fourth-year G Kevin Dotson to the Los Angeles Rams, sending 2024 fifth- and 2025 sixth-round picks with him to get 2024 fourth- and 2025 fifth-round picks in return, moving up one round in each case.
Rams general manager Les Snead was asked about their decision to go after Dotson when they did, and he confirmed that he was a player who had been on their radar for a while. “We tried to trade for him most of the preseason”, he told reporters, via the team’s official transcript on their website.
“They drafted a good bit of OL [and] they signed some in unrestricted free agency, so you did know that they had a surplus of OL who had played in NFL games”, he said. “And with the draftees coming in, they were a team that we targeted initially to monitor if we ever wanted to go in that direction”.
The Rams only kept eight linemen on their roster who were with them in camp, with the Dotson addition giving them nine, having released reserve linemen A.J. Arcuri, Mike McAllister, and Grant Miller. As things currently stand, rookie Steve Avila is projected as the starting left guard, and Tremayne Anchrum Jr. is listed with the first-team unit at right guard. Avila was the 36th-overall pick this year out of TCU. Anchrum, a former seventh-round pick, has spent most of the past two seasons on the Reserve/Injured List. He broke his fibula in the second game of the 2022 season on the second snap of the game. Snead does want Dotson to bring an element of Steelers football to their line.
“They’re a fun team to watch. Their linemen play with an element of toughness”, he said. “They like to run the ball, they like to go north and south. He’s a bigger player. That helps in anchoring, especially in the pocket”.
While Snead allowed that it will take some time to get Dotson up to speed, noting that the Steelers “wanted to hold onto him to make sure that they got through preseason healthy”, he said that “we’ll see where he fits in and what ends up being our best five along the way”.
It would not be surprising at all if Dotson ends up in the starting lineup sooner rather than later, most likely at right guard. In agreeing to acquire him via trade, the Rams took on his $2,743,000 for the 2023 season. That’s not top-end starter money, but he is the most experienced and accomplished guard they currently have.
The 2020 fourth-round draft pick found himself in an awkward place after the Steelers added Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig in free agency, the former taking his starting job and the latter the top reserve guard job.
With no direct backup role, no position flexibility to play center, and an elevated salary, it’s no surprise first that there was a market for a 30-game starter on a rookie contract and second that Pittsburgh was willing to move him.
