The Pittsburgh Steelers parted with two offensive linemen following the preseason via trade who started games this week, players whom they weren’t certain they had a spot for on the 53-man roster. They lost to one of them on Sunday, that being Kendrick Green and the Houston Texans.
They will be playing the Los Angeles Rams in a few weeks, and they may see Kevin Dotson there as well. He made his first start this weekend for the Rams with LT Alaric Jackson missing the game against the Indianapolis Colts. That pushed Joe Noteboom from right guard to left tackle and gave Dotson the chance to play. He impressed his head coach in doing so.
“I thought he played with physicality”, Sean McVay told reporters yesterday. “I thought he did a really nice job in protection and just straining to finish. There was a couple times where, like anything, there were some snaps that you can learn from, but he had a steady demeanor”.
“I thought he did a great job, especially when we were operating in our silent cadence and in the gun”, he continued. “I was really pleased with him. I like his edge. I like his experience. You could feel there was a calm, but there’s a toughness to his game that I think is really good for our offense”.
It is unclear if Jackson will be able to return to the lineup for the Rams’ next game as he deals with a hamstring injury. Even though he was officially listed as questionable to play, he did not practice at all during the week.
That could give Dotson another opportunity to start, and if he continues to play well, the Rams could rest on this configuration of their lineup if they so choose. Neither Jackson nor Noteboom are unmovable starters. And most of Noteboom’s playing time during his six-year career has, in fact, come at left tackle.
Pro Football Focus agrees with McVay’s assessment of the former Steelers lineman. He was the Rams’ third-highest graded player for the entire game, offense, defense, or special teams, behind only future Hall of Fame DL Aaron Donald and star rookie WR Puka Nacua. He had an 86 overall grade with an 89.3 run-blocking grade.
His grade in pass protection was only 60.8, and he was charged with giving up one of the two sacks taken by QB Matthew Stafford. You can see below that he fails to cleanly take on the rusher being passed on to him to counter a defensive line stunt.
The Rams play the Philadelphia Eagles this upcoming Sunday before taking on the Arizona Cardinals during a three-game homestand. They wrap things up by hosting Dotson’s former team, the Steelers, right after that. It will be very interesting to see if he remains in the lineup at that point, and how he fares. Whether he plays or not, he won’t have to face Cameron Heyward, unfortunately.
