Familiarity is not the only reason new Steelers HC Mike McCarthy is excited about signing Rico Dowdle to pair with Jaylen Warren at running back. Having lost Kenneth Gainwell in free agency, they replaced him with a somewhat different running back. But Dowdle is more similar to Warren than to Gainwell—and that was the point.
“I love the fact that their play styles emulate each other,” McCarthy said at the league meetings about Dowdle and Warren. “That’s what I was real excited about in Rico [Dowdle],” he added while noting that he previously coached him while the head coach of the Cowboys.
McCarthy said the first thing he questions regarding a running back is whether they’re three-down players. Even four-down players, including special teams, he noted, as depth running backs typically must play in that phase. He believes both Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle are three-down backs—and so do they, by the way.
“These guys both can play all three downs, and that’s important, and it’s really important for a play-caller,” McCarthy said of Dowdle and Warren.
He already said he will call his own plays this year, as he has for most of his head-coaching career.
“You want to push the envelope, get in and out of personnel groups. You also want to be able to stay on the field,” McCarthy said.
“Having backs that don’t have to come out of the game on third down, that’s something that I put a lot of value in,” he added.
A player like Warren or Dowdle allows them to go hurry-up and run a no-huddle offense, he pointed out.
“I feel that we have got two guys that we can just go play tomorrow with, and I’m excited about those guys,” McCarthy said.
Exactly how the Steelers will share the load between Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle is a matter of debate. Dowdle is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons and has been a more high-volume runner. Does that mean a bigger role as a runner for Dowdle and more work in the passing game for Warren?
Not that Dowdle can’t also contribute in the passing game. Over the past two seasons, he has caught 78 passes for 546 yards and 4 touchdowns, so it’s not like he’s sitting there twiddling his thumbs when the offense is in obvious passing situations. Warren previously had an even bigger role in the passing game, but Kenneth Gainwell subsumed a lot of those snaps. Even still, he managed 40 catches for 333 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2025.
If Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle really are as interchangeable as Mike McCarthy suggests, then it doesn’t matter how or when the Steelers use either one of them. All that matters is that whoever is on the field is healthy and knows the play. I don’t know that their similarity compared to Kenneth Gainwell influenced the decision to let the latter walk. But McCarthy certainly seems glad not just to have Dowdle back, but to have another like him.
Recommended for you