Re-signing standout offensive lineman Kevin Dotson to a massive three-year $48 million contract
The Los Angeles Rams have signed Kevin Dotson back. The starting right guard agreed to a three-year, $48 million contract. He was traded to the Rams in 2023 after being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2020 NFL Draft. Dotson is coming up on 27. At 6 feet 4 inches, he weighs 321 pounds.
Adam Schefter of ESPN’s NFL Insiders tweeted the major announcement:
“At $16 million annually, Dotson will be the eighth-highest paid guard in the NFL, tied with Joel Bitonio and Joe Thuney,” according to Yahoo Sports News. With $20.5 million, Chris Lindstrom leads the market.
2023 Will Be Dotson’s Breakout Season
In the 2023 season, Dotson, who played collegiate ball for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajus, started 14 games for the Rams. Among the 79 guards in the NFL that were eligible, he received the second-best PFF rating. (Further explanation of PFF ratings follows.)
Dotson “became one of the NFL’s top-rated guards and a backbone of the Rams’ offense last season after they acquired him from Pittsburgh in training camp,” according to NBC Los Angeles. Dotson performed admirably as a run-blocker[] during the 2023 campaign, racking up just two penalties. Throughout the season, he gave up just four sacks.
Dotson’s standing is growing as a result. In addition to the new contract he recently signed with the Rams, he is starting to get more and more attention.
Dotson’s upward trajectory is hardly unique. Along with him, his offensive line colleagues for the Rams are shown incredible skill.
The Offensive Line of the Los Angeles Rams
Here is a look at the starting offensive line for the Rams:
Alaric Jackson, left tackle
Steve Avila, left guard
Coleman Shelton is in the center.
Kevin Dotson, right guard
Effective Approach: Rob Havenstein
In a recent article, offensive line expert Dan Fornek—a former offensive lineman for the University of Dayton—analyzed the Rams’ offensive line strength:
Even though they were among the top teams in the NFL going into the 2023 season, the Rams [OL] had relatively little NFL experience. This helped Kyren Williams become a household name in the backfield and gave Matthew Stafford a boost. The right side of the offensive line has performed particularly well, as Rob Havenstein and Kevin Dotson have combined to allow only 42 pressures and five sacks on 465 pass-blocking snaps. In particular, Dotson has shown a lot of growth since joining from the Steelers. He is ranked No. 2 overall among guards by PFF for 2023.
Pro Football Focus, or PFF for short, is a sports analytics firm that has created a reliable system for evaluating and contrasting NFL players and teams.
Elite: 90–100
Pro Bowler: 86–89
Begin: 70–84
Reserve: 60–69
Changeable: 0-59
“[E]very player’s and team’s performance, on every play, of every game, [which are] tracked throughout the entire NFL season” is the basis for PFF scores and grades.
With a 2023 PFF rating of 85.2 overall, Dotson is categorized as a Pro Bowler.
PFF called the 2023 Rams offensive line “great” overall, but not extraordinary. The OLs of the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles were the only two teams to receive outstanding ratings. Jason Kelce’s departure will probably cause the Eagles’ offensive line to lose that distinction.
On March 7, 2024, the Washington Post published the following story on Dotson’s resigning from the Rams:
The Rams offense [in 2023] saw a significant uptick thanks to Dotson and rookie left guard Steve Avila. The team went from 25th to 11th in the NFL in yards rushed while only allowing 2.0 sacks per game from Matthew Stafford, who was sacked 3.2 times a game in 2022.
Prior to his Rams rookie campaign, Avila was a unanimous choice All-American while attending TCU.
Now that Dotson and Avila are locked up for the upcoming couple seasons, the Rams have two reliable offensive linemen. They are both very good at blocking runs. “The Rams are big and athletic enough to move defenders and create big holes, whether they choose to run inside or outside.”
