The Steelers kept rolling in Round 4 of the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting guard Kevin Dotson out of Louisiana with their second of two fourth-round picks, 135th overall.
Speaking with reporters on the phone immediately after being drafted, Dotson was nearly at a loss for words when asked what it meant to be selected by the Steelers. Getting chosen to play at the pro level at all is huge, but then consider this: The Steelers are Dotson's — and his family's — favorite team. They're die-hard fans. And now he'll be suiting up in the black and gold.
"They’ve always been my No. 1 team," Dotson was saying. "I’ve followed them since I was about five. Even in my house, we have a big-old man cave, and it’s all Steelers, decked out. I’ve been following them forever. My favorite player used to be ‘The Bus' [Jerome Bettis]. All my passwords used to have 36 at the end of them and stuff like that, just because of that.
"So now that this is happening, it’s … it’s ridiculous. I couldn’t even imagine this happening."
Need some visual evidence?
Truly a dream come true!
Lifelong #Steelers fan Kevin Dotson is now a member of the Black & Gold!@kdd7696 | #SteelersDraft pic.twitter.com/P9yQMSsjuQ
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) April 25, 2020
It's not just about being a fan of the team, either. For Dotson, the Steelers represent the perfect fit both on that sentimental level and on the practical, physical level on the field.
"I know what type of player you have to be to be an offensive lineman for the Steelers," Dotson said. "It’s all what football represents, being a tough guy, being a guy who knows what he’s doing and being able to come off hard every play. So I know I guarantee that I’ll be that guy for the Pittsburgh Steelers."
Steelers offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett certainly saw those qualities in Dotson when he rolled the tape.
"He is a people-mover," Sarrett said on the call. "I really like that showing up on his tape. This guy can move, he can do all the stuff we were looking for, second-level stuff, all that’s good. He’s the type of guy, when you look at that old-school run-game stuff, like back in the day when they’d run through guys, this really flashes on his tape. That was the stuff that really jumped out at us when we first started watching this guy."
With Dotson, the Steelers fortify the depth along the interior of their offensive line, where they lost Ramon Foster to retirement and B.J. Finney to the Seahawks in free agency. At various places, Dotson is listed as 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-5 and anywhere from 308 to 321 pounds. Regardless of the exact specifics, the point is: Dotson is a large man. And he knows how to use that size:
Louisiana OG Kevin Dotson finding a way to get some work in during the quarantine. pic.twitter.com/d2qOYuabMy
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 1, 2020
It’s starts this weekend pic.twitter.com/4Vd6BvgAmn
— Kevin Dotson (@kdd7696) April 22, 2020
During his final, redshirt-senior season at Louisiana, Dotson was named an AP first-team All-American, USA Today first-team All-American, Sports Illustrated first-team All-American, Pro Football Focus first-team All-American and Sporting News second-team All-American, while also making first-team All-Sun Belt Conference.
Throughout that decorated campaign, Dotson started all 14 of Louisiana's games, and they went 11-3, capping off the season with a victory over Miami (Ohio) in the Lendingtree Bowl. In addition to all that, Sarrett says the tape off the field shows just as good of a person as a player.
"He’s a self-made guy that’s looking for the next step," Sarrett said. "... I kept trying to find something negative about the kid, and I couldn’t find it, talking with people, talking with coaches and so forth. I’ve got a lot of texts already from coaches around the league [saying] that’s a great pick by us, by taking this guy."
WHERE HE FITS IN
Dotson enters an offensive line group with David DeCastro and newly acquired Stefan Wisniewski at guard. There's a chance last season's starting right tackle, Matt Feiler, could bounce inside to guard for 2020, as well.
But this is where things get interesting. Dotson played tackle initially in college, and he said he's also beginning to learn how to play center. From the sounds of it, there's a chance Dotson can be a guy that can play all five positions along the offensive line, but his bread and butter will remain at guard.
"I feel like I’ll be able to play wherever they need me at, but I feel like the interior is where I’m most at home," Dotson said. "I just feel like my power and my agility helps me in that interior, so I feel like that will be my best position."
Dotson fills a need for the Steelers positionally if he does slot in there at guard, and he could potentially contribute from Day 1. That's not me projecting, either. That's straight from Sarrett.
"It fills one of our needs," Sarrett said. "He’s going to come in, he’s going to compete for the spot, and it’s the kind of guy we like. He’s got all the intangibles, and I think he’s going to be a really good fit for our room and just what I’ve heard so far about the guy, I think it should be a good fit for us ...
"When it gets down to it, it brings flexibility to the room, gives us options and, at the end of the day, the best five will start. I think this guy is realistically that guy that can go in and compete for the spot."
Dotson, a non-invite to this year's NFL Combine despite his decorated collegiate career (and the first non-invite selected in the 2020 NFL Draft), brings a little swagger with him, too. He's a known trash-talker on the field, confident in his abilities and all-too-willing to drive his opponents into the turf ... even if he tells them the play ahead of time.
"It’s more of an intimidation-type thing, you know?" Dotson said of his trash-talking. "I feel like I can win any play that I do, so I’ll tell them the play and, you know, they just have to try to find a way to do it when I know that they can’t. If I tell you the play and you still can’t stop it, it hurts your morale way more."
Sarrett, after diving into Dotson's college film, saw that edge early and often. And, yeah. You could practically feel his smile coming through the phone as he discussed it.
"There [are] times he flashes as a true dominator on the offensive line," Sarrett said. "I go back to saying he’s a people-mover. When you watch this guy, I mean, he runs through people now. He can move them off the point of attack. When you see that on college film, it just grabs your eye. And that’s something we take into account here."
HUNTER'S VIEW
The more I see and read, the more I feel this might be the Steelers' best pick of the draft thus far. Dotson fills a need, and he has legitimate-starter upside. His run-blocking is fierce on tape, and all those things Sarrett mentions are immediately apparent. That fierceness is not hyperbole. It's all right there.
As a 52-game starter in college, Dotson brings durability to the equation too, something the Steelers covet. If neither Zach Banner nor Chuks Okorafor steps up and establishes himself as an option the Steelers are comfortable starting at right tackler, Feiler could stay put, and Dotson could find himself in a camp battle with Wisniewski for that starting position.
I don't expect Dotson to start as a rookie, but there's no doubt the coaches feel the potential is there. Rolling the tape, I see it, too. Things just got more interesting along the Steelers' offensive line.
