Steelers’ Rico Dowdle Signing Reveals Mike McCarthy’s Clear RB Preference

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offseason has been nothing short of busy, which continued on Monday as the NFL's legal tampering period began. The organization saw running back Kenneth Gainwell depart to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it left them without their 2025 Team MVP. However, Pittsburgh quickly turned the page from Gainwell by finding his replacement in running back Rico Dowdle. Dowdle, who spent the 2025 season with the Carolina Panthers, is not stranger to new head coach Mike McCarthy. In fact, Dowdle spent 2020-2024 with the Dallas Cowboys under McCarthy. The team was proactively looking at Gainwell's replacement before even knowing of his departure.

This is the kind of move that can help the organization heading into the 2026 season and beyond. While the league was playing checkers, Pittsburgh was playing chess, and seemingly already had a replacement ready if Gainwell were to move on after one year with the Black and Gold. On Tuesday's edition of The North Shore Drive Podcast, team insider Ray Fittipaldo discussed how he saw the writing on the wall with Dowdle coming to the Steel City based off his past with McCarthy.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty clear this coaching staff preferred Dowdle to Gainwell," said Fittipaldo. "Had a thousand-yard rushing season for [McCarthy] in 2024. I would imagine that we'll see Jaylen Warren more as a third down back."

This is also an interesting observation for the future role of Jaylen Warren, as Fittipaldo began to get into it. With Gainwell having over 1,000 all-purpose yards in 2025, the organization needed a quick response to losing him and they got just that in Dowdle. He has posted over 1,000 rushing yards in two of his five NFL seasons and has done that back-to-back years now. 

For some time, the team failed to adapt to the modern-day NFL with a two-running back system. However, in 2025, that changed for Pittsburgh when they brought Gainwell in from the Philadelphia Eagles where he backed up Saquon Barkley. Gainwell was a dual-threat in the Steelers' offensive attack, contributing both on the ground and through the air. While Dowdle was not as impactful in the passing game in Carolina as Gainwell was for the Steelers, he still can make an impact in there for Pittsburgh.

Steelers' 2026 Offseason Approach Must Be Proactive

The Steelers must attack the 2026 offseason with a proactive mindset. They started that off on Monday when it was announced they were trading for Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to help out DK Metcalf in the wide receiver room. They followed that up by acquiring Dowdle, as running back became a position of need on top of wide receiver with the announcement of Gainwell going to Tampa Bay. Given Fittipaldo's comments, it sounds like the organization had a Plan B in place if they were not going to retain Gainwell, especially given the history of Dowdle with McCarthy.

This is the exact kind of approach the organization will need to continue to have, especially with the 2026 NFL Draft about six weeks away in Pittsburgh. The moves on Monday give the team the chance to now draft a another wide receiver and address other positions of need. It also means that, should they draft a wide receiver in one of the first few rounds, the pressure is now lessened on that prospect to be an instant impact in the Steelers' offense.

Dowdle should be an excellent asset to a Pittsburgh offense that ranked 25th overall in total offense with 305.6 yards per game in 2025. In 2023, Dowdle's third year in the league, he had just 361 yards on the ground. However, in his final year with McCarthy as his head coach, he took off in Dallas and put up 1,079 yards on the ground. He then followed that up with 1,076 yards in 2025 for an up-and-coming Panthers team. Now Dowdle has the chance to rejoin McCarthy and pair up with Warren as an explosive two-headed monster in Pittsburgh's backfield.

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