Former Steelers thriving highlights serious coaching problem in Pittsburgh

Coaching has been a point of criticism in Pittsburgh for quite sometime now. More so this season, though, with the lack of ability to move the ball, score points, and prevent big plays defensively.

The offense is easy to point at and criticize. The offensive line continues to struggle with inconsistencies, and their incompetent center, Mason Cole, has been a huge liability all season. Dan Moore has also looked incredibly replaceable throughout the season, and the team obviously found him to be just that, which is why they drafted Broderick Jones.

This becomes even more infuriating when you see the season that Kevin Dotson is having with the Los Angeles Rams. The Steelers traded their former fourth-round pick to Los Angeles in late-August, as well as their 2024 fifth and sixth-round picks, in exchange for the Rams’ fourth and fifth-round picks.

Since then, Dotson has gone from someone who was going to be a backup guard for Pittsburgh to one of the best guards in the NFL this season. He’s PFF’s fourth-highest grading run blocker on the season, which has helped the likes of Kyren Williams rack up the seventh-most rushing yards in the league. Dotson also ranks above current Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo in pass blocking.

Dotson is far from the only former Steeler to be shining this season. Hell, he isn’t the only former Steeler currently with the Rams having a bounce-back season. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was one of the worst cornerbacks in football last season. This year, he’s tied for sixth in passes broken up and has three interceptions.

Staying out west, Robert Spillane is a defensive captain with the Las Vegas Raiders and is second amongst linebackers with three interceptions. Plus, he’s been one of the best run defenders in the NFL this season.

 

All of these guys who were either middling rotational pieces, or players who were fading into obscurity, are now have renaissance seasons away from Pittsburgh. Is it any coincidence that as soon as Levi Wallace becomes the predominant No. 2, the same spot Witherspoon held last season, he all of a sudden looks awful? At the end of the day, this mainly falls on coaching at all levels of the staff. And more so, it falls on Mike Tomlin for keeping the worst coaching staff in football employed for this long.