Why Steelers rookie Kevin Dotson deserves more playing time
The Steelers have been fielding a terrible running attack in recent weeks.
The main reason for this is the rather awful run-blocking on display for the Steelers. They have been keeping Ben Roethlisberger somewhat clean, but that has much more to do with Ben’s fast release than it has to do with their blocking. The worst performing position group on the Steelers right now is their offensive line. The Steelers don’t have a single offensive lineman graded by PFF in the top 25 of their position in run-blocking.
The Steelers have only managed to crack 100 yards rushing as a team 5 times in 9 games. Due to Wisniewski’s injury in the Giants game, Dotson has played in 4 of those games. The Giants game hardly counts as Dotson only played 6 snaps in Week 1. Aside from that game, and the game against Houston, Dotson has played in every one of their good rushing performances this season. The last time Pittsburgh rushed for 100 yards or more as a team, was when they hosted Cleveland in Week 6. Dotson started at guard in that game.
David Decastro is possibly having the worst year of his career, and Matt Feiler has been playing incredibly inconsistently throughout the year. Kevin Dotson should be in the lineup at a starting capacity right now. To start with, he is the highest graded guard in the entire NFL in pass blocking, which is what has made Decastro the Steelers most awarded offensive lineman in recent history.
The Steelers have clearly valued great pass protection from the interior, opting to start Matt Feiler a former NFL tackle in at left guard for the start of the 2020 season. For the Steelers the hard decision isn’t whether Dotson should start, but where he should start. Dotson looked great on the right side, and even in just 3 full-time games, he looked better in that sample size than Decastro has looked all season.
Feiler should not be starting at guard at this point in the season. Decastro and Dotson should both be starting on the interior of the line. The question is should you let the established veteran who hasn’t been looking as good start in his own position, or should you let the rookie who has been looking like the best offensive lineman on the roster come into the position that he was flashing brilliance in? This would subsequently move the veteran to the opposite side of the line. Dotson is a mauler in the run game, and while he hasn’t shown that as much on an individual capacity as he has with his pass-blocking, he is still immediately better than Feiler. More importantly, the offensive line just has more grit, and a more physical feel in the run game when he is starting.
It would be rough to put Feiler on the bench. However, the Steelers could switch him back to the spot he played in 2019, right tackle, and add more of a boost on the exterior of that line in run blocking. Chukwuma Okorafor is astonishingly ranked 72nd out of 77 graded tackles by PFF in run-blocking. With there being 64 starting tackles in the league, he is worse than 8 teams’ backup tackles at run-blocking. Okorafor is average at best in pass protection, yet carrying the 6th worst run-blocking grade out of every graded tackle in the league is not what you expect from someone starting on a championship level roster.
This would leave them low on depth at the guard position. However, there are a plethora of guards that could be signed at cheap as backups from free agency at this point. Guys like Josh Kline, Kyle long, and even recently cut Stefan Wisniewski would all be viable backups on the interior at this point of 2020. This would likely see Jerald Hawkins or Derwin Gray relegated back to practice squad duties, but it would be for the betterment of the starting line at this point in 2020.
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The Steelers would do well to replace Chuks with Feiler, start Dotson at left guard, and keep Decastro where he is at currently. Dotson would help protect Ben’s blindside at a much better capacity than Feiler has on the interior, and more importantly has the ability to move guys out of the way in the run game. Dotson could provide the spark this offensive line needs in order to get their run game going.