Part of the Pittsburgh Steelers ' offseason spending spree was signing running back Rico Dowdle to a two-year, $12.25 million dollar deal, effectively as a replacement for Kenneth Gainwell , who departed earlier in free agency.
This was seen as a pretty predictable pairing, given his history playing four seasons for Mike McCarthy in Dallas , the last of which was his first ever 1,000+ rushing campaign of his career in 2024.
Coincidentally, Pittsburgh's incumbent starter Jaylen Warren is coming off the most productive year after finally surpassing the 200-carry threshold. With two talented backs on the roster, it's worth pondering how this new-look offense will maximize their particular skill sets.
Dowdle's rushing style is easy to appreciate on film—he possesses solid burst through the hole and has good vision to find cutback lanes between the tackles. However, the best attribute of his game is just the urgency that he plays with, and it's a big reason why he's been able to maximize his touches in two separate offenses. There's very little wasted movement in his approach to getting north as soon as possible, and he runs with low pads and quality leg drive, consistently falling forward on contact.
One goal of a healthy offense is to stay on schedule, and Dowdle aids that cause on early downs: among 35 backs with at least 150 carries last year, he finished seventh in negative-play avoidance rate.
Analytically, the two backs are relatively similar if you look at their success rate figures. With that being said, Warren has a slight edge in terms of pure playmaking with the rock in his hands due to his creativity, contact balance, and ability to sequence moves together in quick succession. Under-discussed this offseason, he should be one of the bigger beneficiaries to the Steelers' scheme change offensively: from Arthur Smith's wide zone attack to McCarthy's more multiple assault.
Since joining the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2022, the Oklahoma State product has averaged a whopping 6.1 yards per carry on gap scheme runs according to Sumer Sports , and there should be a heavier dose of those concepts tailor-made for his talents on the horizon.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren breaks a tackle against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 15, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Warren's true value comes from his three-down skillset and how he can impact the game in all situations—carrying the ball, catching it out of the backfield, and perhaps most importantly, keeping the quarterback upright in pass protection. The former undrafted free agent has excellent eyes to diagnose blitzes and straight-up stuns defenders on collision.
On the other hand, Dowdle struggles in this particular area more often than not. He's not quite as physical of a blocker as he is as a runner and is sometimes late to process games up front. When you factor in the fact that second-year back Kaleb Johnson is also raw in this phase, it becomes very apparent just how crucial Warren's availability will be this fall.
One way to keep him healthy and on the field will be a continued split of the backfield's workload, even if it's to the dismay of fantasy football managers galore. Warren has never had a single game where he's carried the ball more than 18 times, and despite overall good efficiency numbers, multiple play callers have avoided thrusting him into that bell cow role at any point in time.
Conversely, Dowdle has proven that he can not only handle elevated volume but also take over late in games when defenses start to wear down. He's exceeded 20 carries eight times in his career and averaged a healthy 5.4 yards per carry in those contests. So, in the event that the injury bug strikes, the run game should be able to stay on track in the short term.
The focus of the summer storylines will revolve around who the "starter" is, but traditional labels like that are a thing of the past with this position, at least. In the modern era, there are only a handful of true every-down type of workhorses, and those are typically the ones selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
This pairing revolves around two undrafted free agents that still operate with a chip on their shoulders and are only consuming 3.36% of the Steelers salary cap for 2026, making this a sensible approach for an organization with bigger needs than spending premium capital at running back. Plus, the idea here is that their recent heavy investments along the offensive line, especially ascending stars such as Zach Frazier and Troy Fautanu , will pay dividends and elevate the playmakers even more.
Some may recall McCarthy taking some heat during his run with the Cowboys due to his insistence on playing Ezekiel Elliott so many snaps in favor of Tony Pollard . Even if overblown, some of that was probably fair criticism, but it reinforces the idea that he does seem to really value consistency and reliability in pass protection over explosive play creation. Still, he managed to get that duo near equal opportunities in what ended up being an efficient unit that helped the franchise win a dozen games.
From a division of labor standpoint, it makes more sense for Dowdle to handle a higher snap count share on early downs and in the low red zone area. Meanwhile, Warren can rotate in on series starts and help fortify the integrity of the pocket on third downs or obvious passing situations. Which of those roles you value more is a bit of an eye-of-the-beholder type of thing, but both players should be able to co-exist in an offense that will need to lean on the ground game to counteract what will likely be a somewhat limited passing game this season.
After finishing sixth in rushing success rate and seventh in rushing EPA/play a season ago, the Steelers' run game should once again be a strength with the improvements they've made at play caller and running back.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Bell: What Will Steelers Backfield Rotation Look like in 2026?
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