Steven Branscombe/Getty Images Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick Carlos Davis, #96, while a member of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2018.
Today the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have signed all six of their 2020 draft picks.
The signing of four of the six players had already been reported by various sports media outlets. But getting fourth-round draft pick Kevin Dotson and seventh-round pick Carlos Davis under contract was new information.
The news comes on the heels of the signings of fourth-round pick Anthony McFarland Jr. and third-round pick Alex Highsmith, who were the first two 2020 draft picks to reach agreements with the team.
Kevin Dotson
Kevin Dotson, an offensive guard from Louisiana, was the team’s second pick in the fourth round, the 135th overall selection.
Offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com that “Watching [Dotson] on tape, he is a really big man with great lift. He is a very good athlete. What really shows up on his tape is he is a people mover…. He is the type of guy we look at—that old school run game stuff like back in the day when you would run through guys. This really flashes on his tape and jumped out at us.”
Dotson is expected to come in and compete for the left guard position, which was vacated with the retirement of Ramon Foster. Head coach Mike Tomlin has said that Matt Feiler will man that spot initially, but the Steelers hope Dotson will eventually develop to the point where he can be a long-term solution at left guard.
Last year he was a first team All-American selection by the Associated Press, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Focus. He made 52 starts during the course of his college career.
The Steelers could use an infusion of youth on the offensive line, especially with left tackle Alejandro Villanueva set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2021 and both Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro pending UFAs in 2022.
Carlos Davis
Carlos Davis, a defensive tackle from the University of Nebraska, was the 232nd player selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. He finished his college career with 125 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and nine-and-a-half sacks.
Davis appears to have the pass-rush potential that the Steelers are looking for from their interior defensive linemen, but isn’t expected to contribute initially and seems destined for the team’s practice squad in 2020.
He played his final season at Nebraska as a graduate student and started 11 of his 12 games as a defensive end. He contributed 32 tackles, ranking second among Nebraska’s defensive linemen behind his twin brother Kahlil Davis, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Steelers’ defense will be attempting to set a new franchise sack record in 2020; with 50 or more sacks the Steelers would become the first NFL team to register 50+ sacks in four consecutive seasons since the 1980s.
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