Steelers 2-Time Super Bowl Champion Rips Team's Development Of Kendrick Green And Kevin Dotson

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an up-and-down battle in 2023. The season began with a brutal loss to the San Francisco 49ers, only to be followed a couple weeks later with an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Houston Texans. Somehow, the group managed to get to 7-4 before dropping back-to-back games against the two-win Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots. The playoffs are still within reach, but the recent poor play has fans calling for Mike Tomlin to enter the hot seat. There have been countless instances of incompetence in recent years and a former Super Bowl champion for the organization discussed a few examples.

Trai Essex spent most of his career with the Steelers as a backup offensive lineman, besides the 2009 campaign when he started all 16 games at right guard. He was around the team and the locker room during the best years for the franchise in recent memory, and recently caught up with Kevin Adams on the Steel Here podcast to discuss all things regarding Pittsburgh football.

The former lineman focused on the current state of the positional group for the team in 2023. While it hasn't been awful, especially in the running game, he took some time to express sincere disappointment in some recent mistakes. He pointed out how, in the span of a few years, the organization lost a dominant offensive front that consisted of Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Alejandro Villanueva. All three were gone after the 2020 season.

"We had lost so much so fast... we lost a lot of our linemen. You could tell Pouncey was on his last leg. DeCastro was injured and not himself anymore. You could tell Villanueva wasn't the same player. When we get down to it, I think the o-line is actually a bigger issue than the quarterback."

There have been bright spots with guys like Broderick Jones, Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels in 2023, but Essex condemns the way the Steelers handled two guys who were drafted recently to be long-term solutions at center and guard.

"The fact that we couldn't replace in a timely fashion like, we drafted [Kendrick] Green, missed on him. Couldn't develop Kevin Dotson, missed on him. Now, they're going elsewhere and having success. On top of that, there's a rotating door at the offensive line coach position. We got Pat Meyer. This is the only [o-line] coach that's had two years back-to-back since we had [Mike] Munchak.

Essex hit the nail on the head when bringing up Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson. Green, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Steelers in Week 4, was having a great rebound season for the Houston Texans before going down. Dotson may be in the conversation to be an All-Pro with the Los Angeles Rams. It's a bad look for Tomlin and Meyer as a whole.

There are a plethora of issues with the Steelers even though the team somehow finds itself at 7-6 and slotted at the AFC's sixth seed heading into Week 15. Despite a strong ending to the season in 2022, the front office and coaching staff still decided to overhaul the offensive line, which has led to Jones starting at right tackle and Seumalo at right guard.

Unfortunately, there may not be continuity entering 2024. Mason Cole has been dreadful with his snaps and there's no guarantee that the team doesn't bring in a formidable right tackle to allow Jones to hop over to the left side. Steelers fans are overly frustrated with Dotson's incredible play in Los Angeles because it seemed like he was a lost cause after he was traded away.

Dotson was named to Pro Football Focus' mid-season All-Pro team and could end up making the Pro Bowl when the season finishes up. For Pittsburgh, not one of the lineman is in that conversation. Jones might be in the future, but for now, the Steelers need to acknowledge the fact that they made a grave mistake giving up on him. The team also failed to bring in a proper positional coach once again under Tomlin.

Steelers Have A Bunch Of Renovating To Do In 2024

Pittsburgh is going to have even more turnover in 2024. It seems likely that, not just the offensive line, but wide receiver, cornerback, safety, defensive line, punter, and maybe even quarterback are all positions that are going to be revamped. That's a lot to ask of General Manager Omar Khan, but it may be necessary if the organization wants any legitimate chance to compete for a Super Bowl in the near future. Pittsburgh is known for developing talent and getting back to that needs to be a priority going forward.