Losing 2025 team MVP Kenneth Gainwell in free agency to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a big blow for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the franchise pivoted quickly under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy by adding Rico Dowdle, a bruising running back with experience in the system.
Dowdle, who comes off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers, will pair with veteran Jaylen Warren to form a strong running-back tandem in Pittsburgh.
Though they have similar skillsets and stories as undrafted free agents, the two players project as a great pairing moving forward in McCarthy’s offense.
For Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton, the Warren-Dowdle tandem is among the best in the NFL. Moton ranked the Steelers as having the No. 7 running-back duo entering 2026.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers have two proven three-down playmakers in their backfield, and they can both rack up yards in chunks,” Moton writes of the Steelers’ backfield tandem. “The Steelers don’t have a star running back, which keeps them out of the top six. That said, Dowdle and Warren are a well-rounded, interchangeable duo that can finish the 2026 term with 1,100 scrimmage yards apiece.”
Warren and Dowdle landed behind the likes of the Rams’ Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, the Bears’ D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, the Saints’ Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara, the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson, Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs and Isiah Pacheco, and the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby.
Together, Warren and Dowdle form a strong combination. Warren has some real home-run speed and has shown the ability to hit the explosive play time and time again, whether that’s as a runner or a pass catcher out of the backfield.
Dowdle has done that, too, but he’s more of the between the tackles hammer who can wear defenses down. That’s not to say Warren can’t, but Dowdle projects as the better runner on the interior.
Warren is an elite pass-protecting back and should be the clear third-down running back this season, whereas Dowdle isn’t much of a pass catcher. Still, the two fit together nicely, and if healthy, should help the Steelers’ offense take a significant step forward in the first year under McCarthy.
Projecting 1,100 scrimmage yards apiece feels like a major stretch, though. Consider that Warren had 1,291 scrimmage yards last season, while Gainwell had 1,023. Could that even out some in 2026? It’s possible, but it’s still something a great duo last season didn’t achieve.
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