Kevin Dotson joined the Los Angeles Rams’ starting offensive line earlier this season, and he’s performed extremely well so far. With Dotson set to make his fifth start for the Rams, Mike LaFleur spoke about how well the former fourth-round pick has performed.
“Yeah, he’s a pro’s pro too. He came from a really good organization with how they do things in Pittsburgh, obviously,” LaFleur said. “He’s a son of a coach. It’s been a smooth transition. Unlike Myles (Gaskin) where he came from a similar system, Pittsburgh runs a very different system than us from every aspect: protection, run game, and all that. So that was a learning curve for him hearing our terminology for the first time but every week just getting a little bit more comfortable with that and with comfort comes better execution.”
At the end of training camp, the Rams acquired Dotson from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for fourth- and fifth-round pick swaps in 2024, along with fifth and sixth-round pick swaps in 2025. Dotson would begin the season behind Joe Noteboom at right guard, but Noteboom has been dealing with a variety of injuries.
Even with Noteboom active again in Week 7, the Rams elected to keep Dotson in the starting offense. Dotson has responded by producing an overall PFF grade of 87.4 (a career-best mark). He’s also allowed a total of four pressures and two sacks in his first four starts.
As mentioned by LaFleur, Dotson has needed time to get comfortable with an entirely different system since joining the Rams. That being said, Dotson has shown enough to warrant starting him over Noteboom for the rest of the season.
