Kevin Dotson bounces back in the Steelers offensive Pro Football Focus grades

The Pittsburgh Steelers could find a way to pull out the victory on Sunday night in Miami. The offense simply couldn’t put enough points on the board and couldn’t take the lead with a touchdown despite having the opportunity to do so on every second-half possession. As for the defense, a rough start had many things envisioning a repeat of Buffalo before settling down and shutting out the Dolphins in the second half.

But how did the individual players grade out?

For this exercise, we will be looking at the player grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) for the Steelers Week 7 performance. Remember, these are just the grades for the Steelers for this past game and not combined with their previous performances. Before going any further, I must give the typical disclaimer that PFF grades are subjective. While some people rely on them heavily, others are quite skeptical of the process in which they are determined. It is completely up to each person as to how much stock they put into PFF’s grades. For me, I often look at the grades to see if my own “eye test” lines up with what others viewed as how a player performed. If nothing more, the grades create a discussion about how accurate, or inaccurate, they are each week.

Instead of looking at the entire team at once, we break up the scores into offense and defense. First up this week is the offense. Included will be all the players who played at least one snap and the total snap counts for each player will be included. For reference sake, the Steelers played 75 snaps on offense in Sunday night’s game.

Overall

Top 5 (regardless of position)

G Kevin Dotson: 83.9 (75 snaps)
TE Pat Freiermuth: 69.3 (44 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 68.1 (49 snaps)
G James Daniels: 66.2 (75 snaps)
QB Kenny Pickett: 65.6 (75 snaps)

Bottom 5 (regardless of position)

WR Gunner Olszewski: 53.8 (10 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 53.2 (75 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 49.4 (34 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 43.5 (7 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 43.1 (75 snaps)

Quarterback

QB Kenny Pickett: 65.6 (75 snaps)

After a low score last week before exiting the game, Kenny Pickett’s score came back to right around what it had been the previous two weeks. While those who have a big problem and feel it is unacceptable for rookie quarterbacks to throw this many interceptions, they likely will not like the score. For those who think there is a learning curve with rookie quarterbacks and patience is needed, they will probably be satisfied with the score. So the accuracy of this one all comes down to your own perspective.

Running Backs

RB Jaylen Warren: 60.6 (17 snaps)
RB Najee Harris: 59.7 (58 snaps)
FB Derek Watt: 43.5 (7 snaps)

When Cris Collinsworth himself on the telecast points out Jaylen Warren‘s pass blocking skills and being known for doing so, it’s difficult for PFF to turn around and give him a low score in the game. For this reason, Warren 79.2 pass blocking score gave him the edge in the position group by a slim margin. Najee Harris actually had a higher pass blocking score of 85.5 but had a 43.8 score as a receiver.

Receivers

TE Pat Freiermuth: 69.3 (44 snaps)
WR George Pickens: 68.1 (49 snaps)
WR Chase Claypool: 57.7 (64 snaps)
WR Miles Boykin: 57.1 (7 snaps)
TE Connor Heyward: 55.4 (5 snaps)
WR Diontae Johnson: 54.7 (70 snaps)
WR Gunner Olszewski: 53.8 (10 snaps)
TE Zach Gentry: 49.4 (34 snaps)

Pat Freiermuth returned and came back to the top of the group after missing last week’s game, but the scores of the receivers having no one reach the 70s is a bit disappointing. Looking at the scores, there’s not really anything that stands out to me much at all. The scores showed only two players with above the line play and otherwise there were mostly uninspiring grades.

Offensive Line

G Kevin Dotson: 83.9 (75 snaps)
G James Daniels: 66.2 (75 snaps)
C Mason Cole: 57.8 (75 snaps)
OT Chuks Okorafor: 53.2 (75 snaps)
OT Dan Moore Jr.: 43.1 (75 snaps)

After a rough week last week, Kevin Dotson responded with his best score of his three-year career outside of preseason games. Dotson had the team’s best pass blocking score of 86.5 as well as being the only run blocking score above the low 60s with a 78.6. On the flip-side, Chuks Okorafor had his second-lowest score of the season only behind his 52.4 against the Jets in Week 4. After a rough preseason, James Daniels has settled in to scores in the mid 60s to low 70s every week and has been the most consistent along the line during the regular season.

So, what do you think of the above grades? Do they pass the eye test? Let us know your thoughts on the Steelers’ defensive grades in the comments below.