As the saying goes, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’re at three. Don’t just call it a pattern. It’s a concern.
When it comes to the draft, teams are going to miss. The only way to never whiff on a player is to trade all your picks and never turn the card in on anyone. It comes with the territory and no team should be crushed by by one wrong choice, unless it significantly alters the franchise like a massive trade up for a player or staking their claim on a franchise quarterback.
But there has been a discouraging trench trend. On multiple mid-round draft picks, offensive and defensive linemen, the same questions linger. Where is this player’s best fit? Is he at the right position? Let’s walk through three recent examples on the Steelers’ evaluation.
Kevin Dotson – 2020 4th Round Pick
Dotson’s story has been told multiple times. A talented but frustrated player in three years with the Steelers, Pittsburgh moved him from playing exclusively right guard in college to left guard for most of his NFL. As a rookie, he played both spots. After David DeCastro’s career ended in the spring of 2021, the Steelers had an opportunity to cement Dotson at right guard. Instead, they signed Trai Turner as a one-year band-aid and kept Dotson on the left.
His inconsistency continued into 2022, leading the team to sign Isaac Seumalo in free agency. With the addition of Nate Herbig, Dotson’s writing was on the wall. The team dealt him away to Los Angeles before cutdowns. The Rams moved him back to right guard and he turned into one of the NFL’s top guards of the year, in-line for a serious payday come free agency.
Combination of Dotson shifting back to his natural spot, something he’s pointed out, and a simpler and more freeing scheme helped unlock his potential. Something Pittsburgh didn’t even try to do when they had the chance. They got some value out of the pick but had the Steelers’ evaluation been stronger, Dotson would probably still be a Steeler.
Kendrick Green – 2021 3rd Round Draft Pick
What a disaster this pick was. No matter where he went, Green wasn’t going to become the NFL’s next great center. Or guard. Or fullback or anything. But you won’t find a worse Steelers’ evaluation than theirs on Green. To recap. Mike Tomlin said they wanted a senior and experienced college center to step in and immediately replace Maurkice Pouncey. Green checked none of those boxes.
Asking him to play center as a rookie was a reckless decision, stunting his and the offense’s growth. They didn’t even give themselves a veteran alternative, like they usually do, as a backup plan if Green wasn’t performing how the team envisioned. After signing Mason Cole the following offseason, Green shifted to his natural home of left guard, where he primarily played at Illinois. He “battled” Dotson but predictably lost, serving as a backup who didn’t play his sophomore season.
In 2023, the Steelers didn’t know what to do with him. They moved him back to center, likely due to having worse depth, and tried him out at fullback in practice. Despite its success, they never used it in preseason action. Like Dotson, he was traded away, sent to Houston for a late round flier in 2025. While Green’s 2023 campaign was cut short by injury, he looked better with the Texans, playing his natural spot of left guard and seeing success in their zone-heavy system.
DeMarvin Leal – 2022 3rd Round Draft Pick
Pittsburgh’s issues haven’t just been on the o-line. There’s d-line issues, too. Leal is the forgotten Steelers’ miss so invisible he’s hardly even discussed anymore. A tweener out of Texas A&M, Pittsburgh took him in the third round in 2022. As a rookie, he bounced around from spot to spot, defensive end to outside linebacker, adding and dropping weight. In fairness, T.J. Watt’s pectoral injury threw a wrench into the Steelers’ plan and their lack of outside linebacker depth came back to bite them.
His position was more determined as a sophomore, playing defensive end. But he’s become a nomad, a player without a home. While athletic, his pass rushing chops never developed, eliminating him from being used in Pittsburgh’s sub-packages (nickel and dime groupings). Despite it being the concern about him as a rookie, his run defense is stronger than his pass rush, used as a base 3-4 end, but those limitations and overall struggles made him a weekly inactive down the stretch. Entering 2024, Leal is – at best – on the roster bubble and must make a big leap to stick on the roster after training camp.
The Steelers have never felt sure what he is, highlighting his versatility in the spring but never using it in the fall, and they probably hampered his development by bouncing him around so much as a rookie. Similar happened to Sean Davis years ago, an athletic safety who never stayed in one place too long. Both issues I would pin on the Steelers’ evaluation as much as anything.
Conclusion
Three players with three similar stories. Out of position or the Steelers unsure how to use their new pick basically right after drafting them. A concerning trend considering the investment Pittsburgh’s putting into these players.
The good news? This problem might be on old issue. All three of these names, Dotson, Green, and Leal, weren’t selected by Omar Khan. He wasn’t involved in making the picks until 2023. And much of the scouting staff has also been swapped out since Khan arrived. Excluding interns, eight members of the team’s front office/scouting side weren’t with the organization when those three picks were made. Even OL Coach Pat Meyer wasn’t on staff initially when Dotson and Green were picked. He inherited those guys after they were in the door. Ideally, these issues have been solved by a new set of evaluators.
Of course, Mike Tomlin is still here. And Broderick Jones is already out of place as a right tackle with the Steelers not committing to slide him back to his natural spot on the left side. Pittsburgh could trek down the same road again. With an o-line that still needs work and d-line that needs reinforcements and replacements, the Steelers can’t keep making the same mistakes.
