4 Steelers that must play better for the rest of the season

Steelers Kevin Dotson

One of the brightest stars of the Steelers 2020 draft class was an unexpecting fourth-round pick. Kevin Dotson wasn’t designated to start right away, and by most accounts, he was going to need some work in the pass blocking game, but Dotson stepped in early and produced at a high level. There were some high hopes that Dotson would make the transition from reserve guard to second-year star this season.

While he hasn’t been bad as a lineman this season, his play certainly hasn’t been as good as most expected him to be. While he has been the Steelers’ best lineman besides maybe Trai Turner, his play is lacking the ferocity that he had as a rookie. There hasn’t been that second-year leap that most expected Dotson to make. PFF has him graded at a 64.1, a good but not great score especially considering he was in the upper 60s last year.

Perhaps the issue with Dotson was his weird offseason. The second-year guard was dealing with injuries and there were some sudden reports that he was going to get benched. Add in his injury now and his 2021 season has just been off. Ideally, when he gets back, he begins building off the promise he showed last year. Again, Dotson hasn’t been bad by any means, but he has failed to make the big jump this new offensive line could have used.