LATROBE, Pa. -- Forget the Steelers' competition at quarterback. The most heated battle for a starting spot in this training camp just might be at left guard.
And much like boxing, styles make the fight.
The incumbent, third-year pro Kevin Dotson, is a 6-foot-4, 321-pound masher in the running game. The challenger, second-year pro Kendrick Green, started last season at center and has been shifted back to the guard spot he played in college. At 6-2, 315 pounds, he doesn't have the overall size of Dotson, but he's perhaps the most mobile of any of the Steelers' offensive linemen.
Figuring out which one will be the best fit into what the Steelers plan to do on offense is one of the biggest question marks facing the coaching staff at training camp here at Saint Vincent College.
"KG is quick-twitched, can run, is athletic. Kevin is more of a stronger, heavier, mauler-type of a guard, but still has athletic traits that make him a good guard in this league," first-year offensive line coach Pat Meyer said Friday. "They’re a little bit different, but not too different. KG is a strong kid, too, so I don’t see him being a quick position blocker. He’s able to come off the ball and move guys. It’s hard without pads. You see movement patterns and things like that. Once we get pads on, we’ll see what they can do."
That will come Monday as the Steelers open the second week of practices. In the meantime, Dotson and Green have alternated with the starting unit in this first week of acclimation period, with Dotson running with the first team on Wednesday and Friday, and Green doing so on Thursday with the assumption being he'll get another shot there Saturday.
Meyer isn't putting too much stock into these early sessions. Nothing will really matter until the pads come on. But the two offer a clash in styles that could decide this battle.
Dotson started the first 10 games of the 2021 season at left guard, but suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 10 that ended his season. Green, meanwhile, started the first 15 games of the season at center as a true rookie. It was a struggle for the youngster and he eventually missed the final two games and the team's playoff loss to the Chiefs with a calf injury.
The Steelers are hopeful the competition brings out the best in both as they try to figure out their revamped offensive line. Free agent signings James Daniels (right guard) and Mason Cole (center) are at the other two interior positions, while second-year pro Dan Moore is at left tackle opposite Chuks Okorafor on the right side.
"Once we figure it out, whoever ends up winning the spot, great," Meyer said. "And whichever one doesn’t, they got all those reps, so great for them. All five that we start with, you rarely end with the same five, so it’s good."
• One of the reasons Green wound up with the starting job last season was because all of the competition got injured in training camp. A week into camp last year, both J.C. Hassenauer and B.J. Finney were out with injuries, leaving the rookie as the only viable option.
Things were so bad at that time, first-year player John Leglue, who had come to camp as an offensive tackle, shifted to center so that the Steelers could get through practices, a move that wound up gaining Leglue a spot on the practice squad and eventually into the starting lineup when Dotson, Hassenauer and Finney all were injured later in the season.
The Steelers won't have that issue this season. In Cole, Green, Daniels, Hassenauer amd Leglue, the Steelers have five players on their roster who have all played center and have NFL starting experience.
"We’ve got a bunch," Meyer, a 20-year coaching veteran, told me. "I’ve had it in the past when you’ve got one backup going into the game and I’m like, ‘Eh, who’s going to be third? Bro, you might have to snap the ball if something freaky happens.’ We’ve got a bunch of guys that can snap, which is good because you never know what is going to happen."
• A couple of things that are unlikely to happen, though, is a move back to center for Green or a shift there for Daniels, who played the position in college at Iowa and also started some games there for the Bears.
Green told reporters here this week he didn't enjoy playing center last season at all. Making that transition might have soured him on the process. And the Steelers were working with not just Green as a rookie center, but Moore as a rookie left tackle, as well.
"That (stuff) is hard," Meyer said. "You’re coming into the NFL and whether you’re a starter at center or a starter at left tackle, it was two rookies had to start at those two positions. Those are the two hardest spots to start at on the offensive line. Besides quarterback, they’re the two hardest to start at on the team.
"They struggled at times, but they were rookies. They’re going to struggle at those positions. But they did a lot of good things, too. He did a lot of good things at center. The center is a leader. They’ve got to know things. They’re making all the calls. It was a lot on his plate, I’m sure."
As for Daniels, the Steelers don't see him as an option at center at all. They like him too much at right guard, where he started last season for the Bears after being moved around the line in his first three years.
"To me, he’s a guard. Could he end up moving to center at some point? Possibly, but I don’t see that happening," Meyer said. "He’s a guard for us."
• George Pickens continues to impress in this camp. He made a number of athletic catches again Friday and the second-round pick's run after the catch was perhaps even more impressive when you consider he's just a little over a year removed from having ACL surgery.
Pickens snatched a pass in front of Ahkello Witherspoon on the sideline Friday and then began juking his way through the defense before he was finally caught from behind by Devin Bush. Anyone watching the play would never have guessed it was a 6-foot-3 wide receiver moving that fluidly in space.
Friday, Chase Claypool said Pickens will be "the best rookie receiver in the NFL."
Claypool then went out and suffered a shoulder injury in Friday's practice. It doesn't appear to be severe, but with Diontae Johnson staging a hold-in in an effort to get a new contract before the season starts, Pickens is getting plenty of opportunities.
Thus far, he's made the most of them.
• Friday's practice ended with a fight between what appeared to be rookie offensive tackle Jake Dixon and rookie linebacker T.J. Moultry.
It looked like Dixon knocked Moultry off his feet on the final play. And when teammates helped Moultry up, he went after Dixon. They were broken up when Carlos Davis, who had a minor dustup with Green earlier, pushed Dixon from behind, touching things off again.
This came a day after Cole had words with seemingly the entire defense after they celebrated an interception.
Meyer seems to be trying to develop a tough-guy mentality with this group, which got pushed around a lot last season. And it's working.
"To be honest, I’m not too concerned with what went on last year. It’s a new year," Meyer said. "We’ve got new schemes, new techniques we’re going to do. We’re have to establish the run and we’re going to establish the run, especially with a back like (Najee Harris). That’s been a big focal point for myself and the line."
• I continue to see some double running back formations popping up as they did last year at this time in training camp with a true runner in the backfield and then a smaller, shifty runner in the slot.
Again, we saw that in last year's camp, then it went out the window when Anthony McFarland couldn't stay healthy.
But it wouldn't surprise me to see it used more in games this season.
On one particular play Friday, McFarland ran jet-sweep motion out of the right slot, going left. Kenny Pickett then faked a handoff to Mataeo Durant, who also went left as Pickett rolled to his right to complete a pass.
With two backs on the field, you're going to get a base defensive look. That means there will likely be a safety or linebacker on McFarland, which is a speed mismatch. And when he runs at full speed across the face of the defense, it's going to cause a reaction.
If the defense is in man coverage, the linebacker or safety is going to go with him. If the defense is in zone, nobody runs with the jet sweep player. Thus the quarterback is tipped off.
And there are all kind of options off that to keep the defense guessing.
• One thing I've been asked a lot is if there is enough room in this offense for Johnson, Claypool, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris and someone else to get their receptions.
Realize that with the losses of JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, Eric Ebron and Ray-Ray McCloud, there are over 150 targets missing from last season.
So, even if the Steelers throw the ball less than they did a year ago, Pickens could still demand 75 or more targets this season. Heck, McCloud got 66 targets a year ago and he couldn't demand a refund for a bad breakfast at McDonalds.
Those were 100 percent forced. They won't have to force the ball to Pickens.
• With Freiermuth dealing with a hamstring issue Friday -- nothing serious -- Jace Sternberger got more of a chance to show what he can do catching the ball.
The former third-round pick of the Packers had a couple of downfield catches in this practice. He's an easy mover and has always been talented.
He's had some off-field stuff in his career, but there's talent there. Sternberger was a consensus All-American in 2018 at Texas A&M. He had 48 receptions for 832 yards and 10 touchdowns in his lone season for the Aggies.
That's a 17.3 yards per catch average. That shows up.
If he can turn his career around -- he was suspended two games in 2021 for substance abuse while with the Packers -- the Steelers could have a really interesting tight end room.
• Alex Highsmith, for one, can't wait to put the pads on Monday.
The third-year linebacker has set some lofty goals for himself after recording six sacks in his first season as a starter. He had 15 quarterback hits last season, just two less than Cam Heyward for second-most on the team last year. He wants to turn some of those hits into sacks.
"That’s the goal. If double-digit sacks are what I’m going to get this year, I’ve got to finish my rushes," Highsmith said. "If you watch last year, I was so close. There were rushes I could have finished. That’s what I’m working to improve to go from (six) sacks to 12."
• The Hall of Honor Class for 2022 will be announced Saturday at 1 p.m. I'm told this is one that will have fans very excited.
Myron Cope, perhaps?
Hmm-ha!
