Messaged received.
That’s how Kevin Dotson is taking the decision of Steelers coaches and management to open his position to a competition, pitting the third-year left guard against a second-year player, Kendrick Green.
Dotson, a fourth-round pick in 2020, was able to lay an early claim as a starter at guard for Pittsburgh during his rookie campaign.
But, last year, an ankle injury in Week 10 shut him down for the remainder of the season, and Dotson had to watch as his fellow offensive lineman struggled to establish a consistent run game.
With some new pieces — and some regained health — Dotson feels like those woes may be a thing off the past.
“It can be an entire 180,” he said Thursday before the team’s second training camp practice in Latrobe. “We can change everything. I think everybody learned something from last year… With how much ridicule we were getting last year, we don’t want that same thing to happen again.”
The Steelers beefed up the line by adding a new center in Mason Cole and a veteran right guard, James Daniels, via free agency. They also re-signed Chukwuma Okorafor to stay at right tackle, and Dan Moore Jr. returns at left tackle after being thrown to the wolves as a rookie last year.
That leaves Dotson and Green — who started most of 2021 as the team’s center — in a ‘two dogs, one bone’ situation for left guard.
“It’s a competition,” Dotson said. “If they’re giving (other) people (first team) reps, I’ve got to take the reps I get and make the best of it.”
While Dotson has been viewed by many as a heavy favorite to win the job, Green was with the first team to begin practice Thursday. The battle is on.
“This is business,” said Dotson, who did get time with the top unit, too. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. There’s no hard feelings on anybody.
“You've got to be able to have the mentality that you're taking food out of somebody's kid's mouth, because you've got to go take their spot. If you want to start, you've got to have that mentality.”
Dotson received high praise coming out of Louisiana. Despite 134 players being selected before him, he was seen as a player ready to start right away following the retirement of Ramon Foster.
However, last offseason, reports surfaced that management was disappointed with Dotson’s conditioning and his commitment to offseason preparation.
“I asked coaches, they all said that they don’t know where they got that from,” said Dotson, who snapped back via social media at the reports when they went public.
“I was more surprised, like where did this come from? I got on Twitter — I probably should’ve just let it alone. But when you get lied on, it’s like ‘what are we doing?’ Now I can let that type of stuff slide.”
Ignoring social media is one sign of maturity. Another came after the injury, when Dotson learned that rehab is an exceedingly important part of being a professional, and only gains meaning as a player ages.
“Before, I was just going to sleep for my rehab,” he said. “I might get in the hot tub every so often. Now, I have a schedule of what I need to do before I start working out.”
The Steelers hope that Dotson can become the 6-foot-4, 321-pound mauler that many within the organization are optimistic he can become. At just 25 years old, it’s far from ‘too late’ for him.
If he finds it, and the rest of the Steelers’ new offensive line comes together, life could be good for running back Najee Harris and the rest of the Pittsburgh offense.
“We have the running back to get 2,000 yards,” Dotson said. “Last year, he was breaking five tackles. If he’s breaking five tackles (then), just imagine if we can block at least two more people.
“That’s another 30, 40 yards per game. If we can be at least 20 percent better than we were last year, he’s going to thrive."