It won’t be the Pittsburgh Steelers, but someone is going to back up the Brinks truck for Kevin Dotson. Or at least, that’s what Pro Football Focus believes.
In a recent article on the site from Jonathon Macri, he lists the former Steelers guard as one of six impending free agents who deserves to get paid.
“Dotson played out the final year of his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Rams after being traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he fit right in as a crucial piece of the offensive line, specifically, as a run blocker,” wrote Macri. “Dotson was about league average in the run game during his previous years in Pittsburgh, but within the Rams’ duo-heavy system, he became one of the highest-graded run blockers in the league, posting an 88.8 PFF grade that tied for the best mark among all qualifying guards. Dotson also posted the third-highest percentage of positively-graded run plays among qualifying guards.”
Dotson’s improvement after moving to the Rams can’t be overstated, as he legitimately became one of the league’s best guards. That’s a far cry from where he was with the team just a year prior, often being pointed at as one of the weakest links on the line.
His fall from grace came as a big surprise to Steelers fans as the Louisiana-Lafayette graduate made an immediate impact as a rookie, grading out as a 66.2 in PFF’s database. Unfortunately, Dotson couldn’t build on that season, never passing that mark again while in Pittsburgh.
The rest is history with the team shipping him to Los Angeles for their 2024 fourth-round draft pick and its 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Pittsburgh also sent the Rams their 2024 fifth-round and 2025 sixth-round picks.
As Macri said, the Rams system did wonders for Dotson. Their heavy system played right into Dotson’s hand, accentuating the strengths of his game in the run game by allowing him to get out in space. Almost overnight, he morphed into top guard, grading at an elite 85.2 overall PFF grade.
Funny enough, Arthur Smith’s wide-zone system may have been perfect for the former Steeler, but there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Pittsburgh’s addition of Isaac Seumalo more than makes up for the loss of Dotson, who was slated to be a backup for the Steelers this season had he not been traded.
More importantly, if Marci’s prediction of Dotson’s salary comes true, the team will also be saving money.
“Dotson is currently projected to make around $17M per year, according to PFF’s free agent tracker, which would easily put him in the top five at his position (right guard) in annual salary,” wrote Marci.
Only time will tell if Dotson warrants that much in the open market but personally, I’d rather take the combination of Seumalo and James Daniels who cost the team roughly 17 million together.
