Kevin Dotson will embrace competition at left guard when Steelers report to training camp

Amid all of the changes the Pittsburgh Steelers made to the interior of the offensive line in free agency, Kevin Dotson wasn’t sure of his future when he reported for offseason workouts in the spring.

As training camp approaches next week, that no longer is the case. Dotson will get the first chance to retain the starting left guard position he earned last year in his second NFL season.

He also will face competition from a player who lined up next to him until Dotson was injured in the 10th game last season.

Kendrick Green, who started at center until late December, will challenge Dotson at the left interior spot. Mason Cole and James Daniels were signed in free agency to start at center and right guard, respectively.

“I love the competition,” Dotson said during minicamp last month. “It brings out the best in you, and I want to see the best in myself.”

So do the Steelers, who would like to avoid a repeat of last season when they rotated four players at the position in the second half of the year.

The carousel began after Dotson injured his ankle in the November tie against the Detroit Lions. He was placed on injured reserve and never was healthy enough to return to the active roster.

For the rest of the year, the starts went to J.C. Hassenauer (one), B.J. Finney (two) and John Leglue (six, including the playoff loss at Kansas City). Hassenauer and Leglue are back in the mix along with Green, who is returning to his natural guard position.

They aren’t the only options. Veteran Joe Haeg also can play on the interior, Nate Gilliam was brought back after spending time on the practice squad and Chris Owens was signed as an undrafted free agent.

Factor in the commitment to Cole and Daniels, and it’s reasonable that Dotson was unsure of his standing in the spring.

“They didn’t tell me (about competing for a job) until I got here, but I understand it,” Dotson said. “They feel like they need to do what they need to do, and I’m going to do what I need to do.”

Dotson took the bulk of the first-team reps in organized team activities and minicamp, which served as a reminder of how far he has come since his ankle injury in November.

“I feel great,” he said. “I’m confident in my ankles, confident in being on the left side, confident in learning the playbook,” he said. “Everything is coming together for me.”

As for Green, he spent the offseason getting used to a return to guard, the position he primarily played at Illinois until the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft. Green was given first crack at replacing the retired Maurkice Pouncey, and he even visited with the former Steelers veteran in the offseason before the position switch back to guard became official.

“It’s a different stance when you’re playing guard versus when you are playing center,” Green said. “Getting used to that, being able to move functionally, that was kind of the biggest thing last year, so I am still working on it.

“Moreso it’s just the feet, the way the feet are in the ground. You’re a little bit more braced at guard because your feet are staggered. Center, they are parallel, so it’s just a different thing to get used to.”

Unlike Green, Dotson doesn’t have the position flexibility to move to center. He was drafted as a pure guard, and he took snaps at the left and right spots in 2020 when he started four games as a rookie. At Louisiana, Dotson played primarily right guard during his four years as a starter.

Dotson played exclusively on the left side in 2021 after the Steelers signed Trai Turner to replace David DeCastro at right guard.

With Daniels signed to replace Turner and Cole brought in to play the pivot, Dotson will be used again at left guard — provided he holds off Green and others for the job.

It’s the first time, he said, since his second year at Louisiana that he will be challenged as the frontrunner for position. He grew complacent with the lack of competition then and vows to avoid making the same mistake in his third NFL season.

“I didn’t really have anybody backing me up, so I got the big head,” he said. “Anybody who came behind me, I didn’t have any type of real fights against. In my first two years in college, I’m behind the person and I’m like, ‘Every time you mess up, I’m not going to mess up.’

“I know that other people have the same mindset now, so I know I have to be on my (game) right now.”