The Los Angeles Rams’ starting lineup this weekend will feature a couple of familiar faces for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two players who began the 2022 season as starters in Pittsburgh are now serving in that capacity for the Steelers’ next opponent.
The one most people seem to want to talk about, however, is G Kevin Dotson, whom they traded at the end of the preseason. The Rams had been pursuing him for a while, and were willing to swap a pair of mid- to late-round draft picks to get him.
The fourth-year veteran opened the season as a backup but opportunity presented itself and he seized upon it. He’s been starting for weeks now and receiving strong reviews for his play. Even his former teammates think so—at least before Sunday.
“Their scheme is a little different from ours, but shoot, Dotson’s been looking good”, Steelers starting nose tackle Montravius Adams told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We know the kind of player he is. For the most part, I think Dotson looks good. And, shoot, it’s up to us to say that he don’t”.
The offensive line is not a position that you can really evaluate statistically, at least through traditional statistics. But try to find any credible sources bucking the narrative of him playing at a high level right now for the Rams. You won’t.
Though their grading should be taken with a grain of salt, as goes without saying, Pro Football Focus has Dotson as their highest-ranked offensive guard so far this season. And that doesn’t mean you can’t see for yourself when a lineman is doing a good job.
Dotson started 30 games in his three-year career with the Steelers, including 17 last season. He was a bright spot as a rookie coming off the bench to fill in when injuries occurred, but he never quite built upon that. An injury of his own kept him out of the second half of his sophomore season.
Many feel that his skill set was not ideally suited to the Steelers’ offensive line. On the evidence, the Rams do seem to be getting more out of him than Pittsburgh did, though at least as it pertains to the 2023 season, they were never realistically going to give him a chance.
After all, they went out in free agency the past two offseasons to throw money at new starting guards. It was James Daniels last year and Isaac Seumalo this year. As soon as that move was made, Dotson saw the writing on the wall.
As much as he likely enjoyed the opportunity to play for the team he grew up rooting for, it’s no surprise that he seems to have found a better situation for himself professionally elsewhere. At least, that’s based on who he’s looked for the past three games. The Steelers intend to make him look so bad that the Rams wonder why they gave up anything for him at all.
